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Search forSight-restoring operation at Cannock Hospital lets Linda ditch hated specs
Thursday, November 13, 2008, 00:00
Linda McCormack, aged 43, had needed the strongest prescription glasses available for short-sightedness.
And her glasses were so thick that Linda suffered years of cruel taunts as a child and she was virtually blind without the heavy lenses.
But after some prompting from her optician and thanks to a Cannock Chase Hospital eye surgeon, Linda has been able to throw away the glasses she has hated for the last 40 years.
"She really was on the very limit of prescription glasses," said John Beddows, who owns Portland Eye Care, in Cannock, and is also a local councillor.
"I know there has been a lot of medical progress in optical surgery and said she should ask if anything could be done to help her, and Cannock Chase Hospital stepped up to the mark. What they've done for her is amazing."
Consultant ophthalmic surgeon Bal Manoj carried out an operation to insert a corrective lens in both of Linda's eyes to enable her see better.
"I was born a month premature, which affected my eyesight and I had also developed cataracts," Linda said this week.
"When I was younger, people walking down the street would stare at my glasses and call me names. I got really fed up with it.
"I couldn't do anything unless I was wearing my glasses. Without them everything used to be blurred unless it was two inches away from my face. Now I only need glasses for reading small print," she added.
Linda said she was worried that if the operation was not successful that she would never see her five-month-old granddaughter Natasha again.
"As soon as I had my eye patch off I could see crystal clear – it was amazing," she said.
"It's changed my life and I can't thank Mr Beddows, Mr Manoj and the hospital eye care centre staff enough
"I'm free from those horrible glasses. It has given me loads more confidence, I'm like a different person."
She added: "The hospital staff were all brilliant. I just wish I had been able to have it done years ago, but the procedure wasn't around when I was a little girl. It's given me a totally new life."
Linda's husband Mark said: "Linda's glasses were so heavy they used to leave marks on her nose.
"It was great when they took the patches off her eyes. Her first words were 'Wow, I can see'. She was so happy, it's been great for her."
Linda McCormack, holding the thick glasses she has been able to get rid of thanks to Cannock Chase Hospital, pictured with grandaughter Natasha and optician John Beddows. (SIP)
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