HI-TECH DEVICE TO HELP VICTIM OF LACED ALCOHOL

A YOUNG woman who was blinded by tainted vodka on a Greek holiday island will soon be able to read again thanks to a revolutionary artificial vision device.

Hannah Powell, from Teesside, was on holiday with two pals in Zante last August when she unwittingly drank vodka that had been laced with deadly methanol, a cheap chemical normally used to make car antifreeze.

The 21-year-old was left with kidney failure and is now classed as severely sight impaired.

But soon Hananh will be able to read everything from restaurant menus to newspaper headlines after a Northumberland optician read about her plight and decided to help.

Kevin Thompson, from Alnwick, has never met Hannah but is paying more than £2,000 for her to get a device called OrCam, which allows blind people to read text, know what’s on their computer screen or smartphone and identify what foods they have in their fridge by reading the labels.

An earpiece will relay the information via a mini speaker. Nobody else will hear anything as the device uses bone conduction to transmit the words through the skull.

Mr Thompson, 55, who is chairman of the National Association of Optometrists, decided he had to help Hannah, from North Ormesby, after reading an article about her ordeal.

“I’ve spent my entire working life trying to make people see better and when I read about Hannah I thought this is the most extreme case of sight loss I’d heard about,” said Mr Thompson.

“I was immensely moved by the terrible ordeal she went through in Greece and the devastating consequences of losing her sight.”

Hannah, a GP’s receptionist, had enjoyed a night out on holiday, and after waking up the next morning, asked a friend to “open the curtains” before being told they were open and the sun was pouring in.