Witnesses
EN
Allison Inquiry | Eva Caven | Day 2 September 9th, 2026
A retired Canadian nurse describes her right eye turning red and filling with blood within days of her first Pfizer dose, having had 20/20 vision at a checkup days earlier. Years of inflammation, surgeries and steroid drops later, she is blind in that eye and lives with the threat of severe pain.
Eva Caven, 68, worked as a registered nurse for 42 years, most recently as a community case manager in a geriatric program. She received her first Pfizer dose on March 26, 2021, encouraged by her team because of the vulnerable patients they served. At a routine checkup on March 31 her vision was 20/20. On April 4 she woke with a painful, red eye that worsened through a 12-hour shift and filled with blood by evening. She says her eye doctor of about 30 years had never seen the large floating opacities he found, treated her with intensive prednisone drops, and wrote a letter advising against a second dose. Caven describes a repeating cycle of inflammation, drops and rising eye pressure, retiring early at 64 in March 2022, an eye infection requiring a vitrectomy, a retinal hole repaired in 2023, and a scratched cornea. She is now blind in that eye, seeing only shadows, and must keep managing the inflammation to avoid severe pain she compares to a red hot poker. She describes no longer driving at night, tiring easily when reading, giving up tennis, and losing friendships over her vaccine injury. She has not applied for compensation because she heard it was not worth it, and says clinicians rarely acknowledge the cause. MPs question her about recognition and her former colleagues.
Eva Caven, 68, worked as a registered nurse for 42 years, most recently as a community case manager in a geriatric program. She received her first Pfizer dose on March 26, 2021, encouraged by her team because of the vulnerable patients they served. At a routine checkup on March 31 her vision was 20/20. On April 4 she woke with a painful, red eye that worsened through a 12-hour shift and filled with blood by evening. She says her eye doctor of about 30 years had never seen the large floating opacities he found, treated her with intensive prednisone drops, and wrote a letter advising against a second dose. Caven describes a repeating cycle of inflammation, drops and rising eye pressure, retiring early at 64 in March 2022, an eye infection requiring a vitrectomy, a retinal hole repaired in 2023, and a scratched cornea. She is now blind in that eye, seeing only shadows, and must keep managing the inflammation to avoid severe pain she compares to a red hot poker. She describes no longer driving at night, tiring easily when reading, giving up tennis, and losing friendships over her vaccine injury. She has not applied for compensation because she heard it was not worth it, and says clinicians rarely acknowledge the cause. MPs question her about recognition and her former colleagues.
