Brendan O’Loughlin, co-presenter of the 98FM Breakfast Show in Dublin, started wearing glasses six years ago after he found himself struggling with headaches and tiredness after his workday. Realising that it resulted from straining his eyes to be able to see, he decided to make an appointment at his local optician and was recommended glasses to correct his vision. Growing increasingly fed up with the minor irritations that came with wearing them, however, he was keen to opt for an alternative solution and booked a free consultation at Optical Express in Dublin.

“I realised that I was straining to see, so I went to the opticians and got glasses,” he explains. “They just became a bit of a pain. Especially when the pandemic hit, and glasses and masks, not ideal. Glasses and masks are a total faff, you don’t want that,” he continues. As a friend of his had previously opted for laser eye surgery and was over the moon with the results, Brendan decided not to wait any longer and booked in for treatment at our state-of-the-art clinic in Dublin: “That just gave me the confidence to go and do it myself, that I knew somebody in the flesh who had it done. They just said that it’s completely worth it and that they would never look back.”

Feeling very apprehensive at first, Brendan was relieved to find that everything was explained to him in great detail, which left him feeling completely at ease when he went in for surgery. “Once she broke it down, and told me exactly what both lasers were going to do and how long, or should I say how short, the procedure was going to be, it completely relaxed me,” he says. With laser eye surgery taking mere minutes to perform, he was surprised to find that he was in and out of the operating theatre a lot quicker than he had initially anticipated: “Honestly, from the time I got into the room to the time I left, I think it was probably only 10 minutes in total.”

Brendan has achieved 20|20 vision and was ecstatic to find that he can now see his surroundings in far greater detail. “When I opened the front door, I honestly nearly burst into tears. I had literally never seen like that before. The car registration is the first thing you notice, then you can see roof slates really far away, and brand logos,” he explains. He is looking forward to getting back to presenting the 98FM Breakfast Show knowing that he won’t have to deal with tiredness and headaches any longer: “I can go to work and do my job and not get tired, not get headaches, because I can see perfectly.”

Delighted with his restored vision, Brendan wouldn’t hesitate to recommend laser eye surgery at Optical Express to anyone who is considering ditching their glasses or contact lenses. “From the moment I walked through the door, I just felt genuinely really looked after, really reassured. They’re just a really, really good team of people who understand that it’s a big decision, and they honestly help you through every step of it. It’s much, much easier than you think, and much quicker, and I could literally instantly see clearer than I had ever seen before,” he says.