A toddler was left blind in one eye after a stranger kissed him, and his mother is now raising awareness.

Juwan Saaiman, a two-year-old from Namibia developed a devastating eye infection after being kissed by an adult.

Juwan’s ordeal started when he developed a blister on his left eye – something Michelle initially mistook for a minor eye infection.

She took him to the doctor, where he was prescribed antibiotics, but the little boy’s condition rapidly worsened.

“Two days later, we noticed that there was something seriously wrong with the eye,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

“It looked like something was growing inside his eyeball, which was not there the day before.

“We realised that he had no feeling in his eye, as he literally put his finger in his eye, scratching his eyeball, without even flinching.”

After multiple tests and consultations, doctors delivered the shocking diagnosis that Juwan had herpes in his eye.

Since both of Juwan’s parents tested negative for the virus, doctors believe that an innocent kiss from someone with an active cold sore had transferred HSV-1 to the little boy.

While many people with herpes show visible blisters when they have a flare-up, others can carry and spread the virus without any symptoms – making it easy to unknowingly infect others.

Michelle admitted that she had heard warnings about not kissing babies before but had never taken them seriously – until it happened to her own child.

“This is something that I’ve read a thousand times, but we’ve never really been too bothered about it – I mean, what’s the worst that can happen, right?

“Wrong. I was so wrong.”

Juwan’s doctors struggled for weeks to get the infection under control, even consulting specialists in New York to find the right treatment.

His parents, Michelle and Neels, were terrified that the herpes virus would spread to his brain or other eye.

Despite their best efforts, Juwan’s left eye was ravaged by the virus, causing severe damage to his cornea.

“The herpes just caused so much damage to his cornea that he essentially just lost all feeling in the eye and he could not see anything. He was completely blind,” Michelle told Metro.

“It meant the brain did not recognise the eye anymore and stopped sending signals to the eye. The gel layer protecting the eye evaporated and the eye dried out.”

Without proper lubrication, Juwan’s eye began to deteriorate, eventually forming a hole.

“It’s the most traumatic experience to look at your baby, and literally see a 4mm open wound in his eye, which is so clearly visible,” Michelle said.

Because herpes is incurable, Juwan will have to live with the virus for the rest of his life—experiencing flare-ups that could cause further complications.

Fearing that he could lose his eye completely, Michelle and Neels flew their son to Cape Town to see a pediatric ophthalmologist.

Juwan has already undergone one major surgery, with two more to come.

The second procedure involves harvesting nerves from his leg and implanting them into his eye to reconnect it to his brain.

If that is successful, he will be eligible for a cornea transplant, but only if a suitable donor can be found.

For now, his eyelids are stitched shut to protect the delicate area.

“Whether any vision can ever be restored is unknown at this stage, but we have made peace with the fact that he could very well be permanently blind in his left eye,” Michelle said.

“Our main priority at this stage is just to save the eye itself and to prevent further infections.”

Michelle hopes that by sharing Juwan’s story, other parents will be more cautious about letting strangers kiss their babies – no matter how innocent it may seem.

She said: “The moral of the story – don’t let anyone kiss your baby. Such a silly virus caused so much trauma and damage, it’s just not worth it!”