Quo legend: Eye op has stopped me going blind
Rossi writing now he can see again
STATUS Quo star Francis Rossi is ready to rock all over the world again after a cataract operation saved his eyesight.
Rossi, 71, said: “Now I know why people wear sunglasses.
“I used to think everyone was just showing off with them. But after my cataract operation I was like, ‘ Oh, I see... it’s really bright’.”
The Rockin’ All Over the World hitmaker spent lockdown at home in Purley, South London, but i s back writing and recording music.
He says he is “enjoying the creative process” now he can see clearly.
Rossi had corrective laser eye surgery in 2015 but the cataracts became a problem late last year.
He said it looked like Vaseline was smeared on his glasses.
And he urged anyone beset by blurred vision to get their eyes checked, though he admits nerves before the procedure in January.
He said: “I was thinking, ‘ Don’t f*** ing explain it... I’ ll be out of here like a shot! Now I tell everyone they should have it done because it’s such a big plus.
“I d o n’ t we a r glasses any more.”
Hi s op at t h e London Cataract C e nt r e i nv o l v e d r e p l a c i n g t h e c l o u d e d l e n s behind the iris with an artificial one.
R o s s i a d d e d : “When you hear people talk about c a t a r a c t s i t ’ s a l m o s t l i k e someone saying, ‘ You’re going to have your testicles cut off.
“But the thing people should realise is it’s so bloody quick, it only takes a couple of minutes. If all surgical procedures were that quick I ’d have everything done.”
Eye surgeon David All amby, director of the London Cataract Centre, said around 400,000 cataract operations were carried out in the UK every year.
He added: “Most patients return to having very good sight.
“The procedure is a simple one and can normally be c a r r i e d o u t without the need f o r a g e n e r a l anaesthetic.”
A private cataract op is € 2,195 to € 2,899 per eye. Rossi’s 60- date spoken- word tour I Talk Too Much, stopped by Covid, has been rearranged for next year.
It’s almost like someone saying you’re going to have your testicles cut off
FRANCIS ROSSI ON IRRATIONAL FEAR OF CATARACT OPERATIONS