Keith Quinn in health scare at Games

Sports commentator Keith Quinn has spoken out about how he nearly lost sight in one eye at the Commonwealth Games.

The TVNZ commentator had emergency surgery in Melbourne on Thursday night to repair a detached retina.

Quinn, 60, a veteran of nine Commonwealth Games, said he noted vision in his right eye was cloudy during the opening ceremony.

The next morning it was as if a solar eclipse had come over his eye, he told a national Sunday newspaper.

After commentating on the rugby, and doing a news broadcast, he went to hospital and doctors told him he had a detached retina.

After surgery, he was told to rest and is only allowed to get up once an hour.

"I must lie down for as long as it takes to get fixed so I won't be doing any more calls at the Games.

"It's very disappointing but you've got to get your eyes right. A broadcaster only needs two things to work with, a voice and eyes."

In 1996 Quinn collapsed at Taupo's Wairakei Golf Course during a media tournament.

He was diagnosed with a complaint called nocardiosis, caused by bacteria in soil.

It is thought he contracted the virus during a tour of South Africa 1995, where he was calling the Rugby World Cup.

The virus has left him an epileptic.

- NZPA