HONG KONG - Former screen goddess Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia had a health scare recently after she was hit in the right eye by a shuttlecock while playing badminton with her good friend, film producer Shi Nan Sun.

In an article written for Taiwan's China Times which was published on Sunday (July 4), the 66-year-old wrote: "I dropped the racket instinctively, covered my eyes and walked to the side. I felt better after a while and continued playing."

The retired actress went shopping after the game, but she suddenly saw black spots as though there was a plate of black sand in front of her.

Lin, who quit acting after marrying Hong Kong businessman Michael Ying in 1994, called Ms Shi, who told her to consult a doctor immediately.

Lin went to an ophthalmologist who examined her eye and assured her that it was fine.

He said she would recover after applying antibiotics and eye drops for a week.

"The doctor pointed to the photos of my eye and said that the grey area in the middle was cataract," she wrote.

She went to have it removed two weeks later.

Lin revealed that this was not the first time she was hit in the same spot.

Once, she was hit by sparks from a prop gun while filming the action movie Peking Opera Blues (1986). Her right eye was hit another time by a wooden sword while she was filming the martial arts film Dragon Inn (1992).

Lin said the latest incident was a blessing in disguise as her vision was better after surgery. She also felt the warmth of her family, as it was also the first time her daughter asked to accompany her to the operation.