Christy Carlson Romano keeping birdshot behind her eye to avoid going blind after horror shooting
Christy Carlson Romano has two pieces of birdshot lodged in bone behind her eye, caused by a horror incident in which she was "shot in the face" while taking her husband, Brendan Rooney, clay pigeon shooting to celebrate his 42nd birthday in February 2025.
Christy Carlson Romano will go blind if the two pieces of birdshot still lodged in the bone behind her eye are removed.
The 42-year-old star, who also has a scar, continues to endure the aftermath of the horror incident in which she was "shot in the face" while taking her 43-year-old husband, producer Brendan Rooney, clay pigeon shooting in Texas to celebrate his 42nd birthday in February 2025.
Christy told Fox News Digital: "I was peppered with birdshot at about 250 feet away, and I was struck in a fat pocket under my eye and also in my forehead. I still have birdshot behind my eye about a millimeter away from anything critical.
"And if it were to move, I would go blind. So, we're hoping that doesn't happen."
The former Disney Channel star feared she was "going to die" after being "shot in the face", an ordeal that dramatically changed her outlook on life.
Christy, who has daughters Isabella "Izzy", nine, and Sophia, seven, with Brendan, added: "When you have children, you can't help but start to see the world completely differently after an accident like that."
The Kim Possible voice actress, who also suffered a subconjunctival haemorrhage - the bursting of a tiny blood vessel beneath the white of the eye - was rushed to St. David's South Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas, after being shot.
And she is grateful to be alive.
Christy said: "My oculoplastic surgeon had said that, usually, he's taking people's eyes out, kids, because they've been shot with a Nerf gun.
"It just so happened to hit the right fat pocket right under the eye. And I really almost survived through a miracle because I think there was any amount of outcomes when it came to having birdshot striking my skull and my face."
In her memoir Once Upon a Trainwreck, Christy wrote that "there was another part of our party that didn't choose to be responsible with their firearm and fired too closely in my direction".
The Even Stevens alum, who did not name the shooter but described them as remorseful, recalled collapsing in front of her group and wondering if she was "dead" as her vision blurred and a "dark liquid" spread across her contact lenses.
Brendan and the shooter rushed to her aid, and Christy, who felt increasingly lightheaded, remembered looking "up at my husband of over 10 years" and saying: "It's been a good run, right?"
She added: "The Texas sky is big and beautiful today. Cicadas haven't quite woken up from their long winter's nap this February, and it's not too hot or humid. It's a beautiful day to die."
