TUCSON, Ariz. — It's a mystery at a Donald Trump rally that left multiple people with eye injuries and few answers.
The News 4 Tucson Investigators spoke exclusively with six people who were seated on stage behind the former president during his rally in Tucson last week. Three of them agreed to on camera interviews.
All of the people we spoke with experienced eye irritation and sought medical attention.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Varios partidarios de Trump que estuvieron sentados en el escenario durante un mitin en Tucson sufrieron lesiones en los ojos
One of them is Mayra Rodriguez, who became a prominent figure within the Republican Party after becoming a Planned Parenthood "whistleblower."
Rodriguez used to be a Planned Parenthood Director but made a notable transition into a strong pro-life advocate and supporter of Donald Trump.
Rodriguez said her presence behind Trump at his Tucson rally was ironic because she was seated behind former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during an event in 2016.
She told News 4 Tucson's Chief Investigative Reporter Chorus Nylander that she enjoyed the rally but started experiencing severe eye issues after leaving.
“As soon as we left and we stepped outside my eyes were burning," Rodriguez said.
At first she just thought it was allergies.
She lives near Phoenix, which is about a 90-minute drive from Tucson, by the time she arrived home she said she decided to go to an emergency room.
“The emergency room staff, from the triage nurse to the PA [Physicians Assistant] asked are you sure you didn’t get sprayed with something your symptoms look like you got sprayed with something," she said.
The N4T Investigators spoke with her on Friday the morning after the event, she was nearly blind.
“I can’t see anything when I try to open my eyes. I see a bright light. It hurts, it hurts a lot to open my eyes. I have this cold cloth I put on and take off constantly. It's horrible," she explained.
She said the doctors were not able to pinpoint exactly what caused her injuries. Her vision has started to improve as of Tuesday so her blindness does not appear permanent.
Her initial thoughts of it being allergies seemed to go out the window when she started to hear from several other people that were seated near her at the event, reporting they too suffered eye injuries.
The N4T Investigators spoke with a brother and sister that were seated near Mayra, they did not want to be identified.
“It kept getting worse and worse, my eyes were watering a lot, my nose started running then I started feeling my face get really flushed and my neck felt like it was on fire and it just progressed from there," the sister said.
Her brother told us, “It was all focused on my eyes, my eyes were red like hell you know, it's unbearable. I couldn’t handle it.”
The other supporters who did not agree to on camera told us about very similar injuries. One woman who is a local realtor said she had to cancel all her showings over the weekend because she couldn't see well.
Rodriguez said she reported her experience to the Trump campaign and was told it was investigating.
On Tuesday, after repeated inquiries from the N4T Investigators a Trump Senior Campaign Advisor sent us the following statement:
“The Trump campaign has been collecting information. We remain committed to the countless patriots that attend our high-energy, high-impact rallies across the country.”
The U.S. Secret Service tells us it was not made aware of the situation but said there was no known threat to former president Trump.
The News 4 Tucson Investigators will update you as we learn more information.