I borrowed cash for life-changing private operation
HELEN Heraty was told that she could only have cataract surgery on one eye – despite being virtually blind.
So the 58-year-old, who runs a boutique hotel in York, had to borrow money from her son to pay for the treatment privately.
Her local health trust had told her it would only do her right eye and would wait until her left deteriorated even further.
Mrs Heraty, who has seven children aged 12 to 28 said: ‘I couldn’t function, it was a very difficult time. It was like looking through a Vaseline-coated lens.
‘One eye was completely gone and the left eye was down to 50 per cent vision. I couldn’t drive at night, I could barely drive during the day and I couldn’t see colour.
‘Had I been 70 or 80, I wouldn’t have been so fussed about it. But I was 55, I knew I was going to be working for a lot of years.’
She was treated privately at the London Eye Hospital, Harley Street, in December 201 and opted for a far more high-tech lens than those offered by the NHS which cost £8,000 an eye.
They worked so well she no longer needs glasses to read or see long distances.