Ross Taylor

New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor’s pterygium was so bad during a 2015 test series in Australia, he had to see a Brisbane optometrist between tests. The optometrist prescribed drops to relieve the problem, resulting in Taylor scoring a monumental innings of 290 for New Zealand against Australia in the second test in Perth - the highest test score in Australia by a visiting batsman and the third highest by a New Zealander.

"I couldn't really see the ball [before] so the eye drops obviously worked," Taylor commented in an interview with a Kiwi newspaper at the time.

Taylor played on for another several months, but eventually had enough of dealing with his pterygium and had it removed in November 2016. He was back playing top-level cricket in January 2017, which he continues to do to this day