A young protester narrowly avoided being killed but was left permanently blind after a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a nonlethal round at close range during a Santa Ana protest last week, according to family of the victim.

Jeri Rees said her 21-year-old nephew, Kaden Rummler, underwent six hours of surgery and that doctors found shards of plastic, glass and metal embedded in his eyes and around his face, including a metal piece lodged 7 millimeters from a carotid artery.

“That could have cost him his life,” Rees said.

“But now, for the next six weeks, he can’t sneeze or cough because it could do a lot of damage.”

She said doctors did not want to remove the shrapnel near the artery out of fear that it could kill him. She said her nephew also suffered a fractured skull around his eyes and nose and that doctors said he had permanently lost the vision in his left eye. She said the Homeland Security agent was a few feet from her nephew when he fired the weapon.