Optician praised after routine eye test saves life of 12-year-old boy

A boy’s life was saved when his routine eye test revealed signs that the shunt in his brain that he had had since birth had broken.

Alan Watson, 12, from Edinburgh, went with his mother for his annual check-up to Optical Express in Cameron Toll when optometrist Amna Bashir noticed blurred margins compared with previous photographs.

As a precaution, Ms Bashir called the hospital and arranged for Alan to be seen that day. He went into theatre for brain surgery the next day, receiving an essential emer- 0 Alan Watson was sent for an emergency operation gency surgery that saved his life.

Alan, who has just started his second year of secondary school, was born with hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid on the brain, which resulted in him having a shunt fitted at birth.

The family have praised Ms Bashir’s quick thinking for detecting the signs of abnormalities in his eye test. Doctors said that they could have been fatal.

Alan’s mother, Carmen Anderson, said: “The optician has saved Alan’s life.

“It’s been a worrying time for our family and it’s so frightening to think what could have happened if this hadn’t been spotted earlier.

“If I hadn’t received the reminder that he was due his yearly check-up, who knows how long it would have been before it was detected?”