A mum-of-three was left "scarred for life" after a toy wand she bought as a Christmas present for her son allegedly almost took her eye out.
Clarissa Clary, 44, says the two-inch 'magic staff' is retractable and extends to five foot with the click of a button.
But she claims she was knocked to the floor as the staff shot up and hit her head, missing her eye by an inch.
Clarissa says doctors have told her she could have lost her eye and that the sheer force of the staff could have caused brain damage.
She had bought the item from a private seller on eBay for her 16-year-old son Caine.
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Clarissa from Canvey Island, Essex, explained: "It shoots out at 1,000mph in a second so you get this five foot long staff shooting up at your head.
"Thankfully it missed my eye by an inch but I could have lost my eye and the hospital said it could have even caused brain damage.
"I'm still feeling really sick and dizzy. I didn't have any feeling there because the force of it had severed all the nerves."
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Luckily, Clarissa had tried the staff out before wrapping it and giving it to her son Caine, who has special needs.
Clarissa said: "I tried it out and my dad came round but neither of us could put the staff back so I hid it under the sofa. I eventually managed to put the spring back and I was quite proud of myself.
"I had put it back in the box ready to get it wrapped for Christmas but when I picked up the bag I must have released it and it shot out and hit me straight in the face.
"I was in a daze for quite a few hours holding onto my head. At the time my dad and daughter were laughing at me and I actually laughed at the time too.
"But then my dad said: 'Are you okay?' because it knocked me to the floor.
"I was holding onto my head and he said: 'Let me have a look' and then blood starting pouring from it. I had blood all over my face and my arms.
"It was purely the force of it that caused it and it was a sharp bit of metal on the end."
Clarissa rushed to Basildon Hospital where she waited over five hours to be seen by medical staff.
By the time she was seen to however, Clarissa said the wound had welded together and staff cleaned the wound externally.
She said: "This object has metal fragments and oil in it. I might need an operation to remove the debris from it, I basically need a plastic surgeon.
"They have to remove whatever's there and stitch it up. I'll be scarred forever.
"I have an infection under the wound and a lump and it keeps swelling up."
Clarissa said it was a new product released last year on the martial arts industry but she claims other companies have replicated it at a "cheap price" and are advertising it to kids.
Although Clarissa paid £6.50 she said sites are selling them for as little as £2 each.
She added: "Some places advertised it as a children's toy and some were saying it's a great Christmas present for children.
"I didn't have a clue what I was getting- and that was a bit naughty."
Clarissa messaged the private buyer on Ebay and has looked into reporting it the incident to Trading Standards.
To help raise awareness she has posted about the incident on her Facebook and shared gory images of her injury.
She said: "The amount of people that have messaged me and said they were thinking about purchasing this is unbelievable and for children as young as eight.
"To think of children getting this or even adults getting this and if a child accidentally knocks it and sets it off. It's horrific.
"Police talk about knuckle dusters but this item is legal and on the market and is probably more dangerous.
"This thing is so so dangerous, if a child got hold of this I dread to think what could happen.
"My biggest concern is the spring that shoots it out it's so dangerous.
"My son has got special needs from having meningitis as a baby and he loves gimmick-type stuff and as children get older I find it harder to get them stuff they would like.
"I'm just grateful that I never actually gave it to him. I just want to raise awareness so that people understand the dangers."
Since the incident, Clarissa said doctors told her she had concussion and even now five weeks on Clarissa is still suffering with sickness and dizziness.
She said: "I don't feel like myself at all. It's not just affected me but it's had a knock-on affect to my family. My son has special needs and has started going to a new school which takes me two hours on the school run.
"I haven't been able to take him so he's missed probably two and a half weeks. It's affecting his education. He needs structure and I feel so bad I haven't been able to give him that recently.
"I'm just glad he wasn't hurt and I'm grateful everyday that I still have my eye."
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