Bicester woman saved from sight loss urges people to get eyes checked

Zoe Lee, a mother of two, kept delaying an eye check-up despite her vision deteriorating.

When she finally visited Specsavers Bicester, optometrist Mathangy Jeyabalan suspected a detached retina and referred her to hospital.

Ms Lee had to undergo an urgent procedure to save her vision.

Zoe Lee in hospital for eye surgery (Image: Specsavers) She said: "I booked an eye test when my vision seemed to be getting worse but had to cancel on the day because something came up.

"Five weeks later, a floater in my eye was getting bigger and everyone told me to get it checked out but I kept putting it off.

"But then one day I woke up and I couldn’t see anything out of that eye so I rang Specsavers Bicester immediately and they saw me right away as an emergency appointment."

Ms Lee had to have a buckle fitted in an operation and is now recovering at home.

A scleral buckle is a surgical procedure that involves attaching a small silicon band to the white of the eye to help the retina reattach to the eye’s wall.

Ms Lee is one of three women who attended Specsavers Bicester and sister store Kidlington recently because of blurred vision.

Mandy Flack was diagnosed with a retinal tear, while Patricia Noel has to be regularly monitored by doctors after her macular degeneration became much worse.

Patricia Noel (Image: Specsavers) Mandy Flack (Image: Specsavers) To mark National Eye Health Week from September 23 to 29, the women are now urging others to get their eyes checked as soon as possible.

Ms Lee said: "If they hadn’t seen me immediately, I would probably have just left it and lost the sight in that eye permanently.

"There is potential that I could still lose some sight but I am hoping it will get better given time.

"I can’t stress enough how important it is to get things checked out as soon as possible if you suspect something isn’t right.

"The earlier you can get seen, the better the chances are of a full recovery."

Currently off work to recover, the teaching assistant said her vision in that eye is still a complete blur but is hoping it will eventually resolve itself.

She added: "I love reading but I can’t do that at the moment. My eye also permanently waters and starts aching if I overdo it.

"In hindsight, I should have gone straight to Specsavers as soon as I realised all was not right in my eye and I regret not doing that."