I was nearly blind but doctors would treat only one eye
DESPITE being left almost blind by cataracts, Helen Heraty was told that she could have surgery on just one eye.
The 58-year-old, who runs a boutique hotel in York, was forced to borrow money from her son in order to pay for the treatment privately.
She was told by her local health trust that it could carry out the procedure on her right eye – but her left eye would have to wait until it had deteriorated further.
Mrs Heraty, who has seven children aged 12 to 28, said: ‘I became increasingly reliant on my children to help me out with everyday tasks. 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 in the left eye I 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 I need to be able to see.’
Mrs Heraty had her cataracts treatment privately at the London Eye Hospital, in Harley Street, Central London, in December 201 .
She ended up opting for a far more hi-tech lens than those offered by the NHS, costing £8,000 an eye.
These have corrected her vision so well she no longer needs to wear glasses to read or see long distances.
She said: ‘I’m very, very happy with the results. I’m sat here looking at the distance and I’m able to read a book. That’s all I wanted.’