Pioneering eye surgery gives gift of sight to great-gran

By SHAUN MILNE

A GREAT-GRAN can see her family for the first time in 30 years – thanks to pioneering new eye surgery.

Jean Black, 69, is one of the first patients to have her eye sight restored after surgeons performed a groundbreaking new procedure called a corneal transplant.

Surgeons at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh were able to remove a diseased section of the pensioner’s eye and replace it with healthy donor cells.

Within days, Jean, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, was able to see clearly for the first time in her life and properly meet her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

SIGHT FOR SORE EYES: Jean and Dr Agrawal

She said: “I couldn’t believe it when I realised I could see everything so clearly.

“It has changed my life completely.”

Genetic

“I was over the moon when I saw my great-grandchildren properly for the first time. I never knew they were so big.

“It means the world to me.””

In March this year, Jean became one of a handful of patients in Scotland to undergo the procedure, called an endothelial transplant. She had suffered from Fuchs Dystrophy, a genetic condition which generally causes cloudy and blurred vision in later life.