Wasaga Beach Ontario viral tiktok infection

Viral TikTok shows Ontario woman's infection from swimming at Wasaga Beach

With summer in full swing, Ontario residents are flocking to nearby beaches and outdoor pools to soak up the sun while they can.

Although Ontario's countless freshwater lakes are typically safe to swim in, one woman had a less-than-pleasant experience after taking a dip at one of the most popular beaches in the province.

@lillypadgirl33 #stitch with @Brynley Joyner #greenscreen #eyeinfection #eyeball #wasagebeach #ontario #canada ♬ Amber - 311

In a viral video posted on Sunday which has since amassed over 1 million views (and counting), TikTok user @lillypadgirl33 starts the clip with another woman swimming in the beautiful turquoise blue waters of Nice, France, before cutting to a comical contrasting photo of herself with swollen eyes after swimming at Wasaga Beach in Ontario.

In a greenscreen video over the selfie, she shares that after going for a dip in the lake, she came down with a serious infection from the water.

"I got a bacterial infection in my eye, my eyeball, and my eyeball muscle," she says, laughing afterwards.

The comments are ruthless, naturally, with some equating the water at Wasaga to "toilet bowl water" and multiple other users claiming they also got ear and eye infections after swimming at Wasaga.

"This is why I don't swim in the water here lol" another user writes.

She says she went to a cottage at Wasaga Beach with 8 friends over the Canada Day weekend, but 4 days later, she got sick and was hospitalized. There, the doctor determined it was caused by swimming in the freshwater lake.

She says she was the only one in her group of friends to get sick from the water, which she believes is because she is immunocompromised and more susceptible.

Thankfully, she was alright but said the whole ordeal was really scary. She had to receive antibiotics through an IV for an entire week to treat the infection.

While some accused her of dunking her head underwater, she says she never did as she "did not want to get my hair wet, I had just had a blowout."

After bouts of rainfall or storms, pollution and bacteria found in lake water can be elevated. Most beaches test daily for E. coli levels, and it's always good to check the water quality on sites like The Swim Guide before taking a dip.

For Toronto residents, here are the cleanest beaches in the city currently for swimming.

Lead photo by

lillypadgirl33


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