Suffering from short-sightedness in both eyes, Dawn had been wearing glasses since the age of 7. While she tried to make the switch to contact lenses in later years, she found that these made her more susceptible to eye infections.

When the global coronavirus pandemic also brought the added frustration of steamed-up glasses while wearing a face mask, she decided to make an appointment at her local Optical Express clinic in Liverpool to find out what alternative vision correction solutions were available to her. “Wearing the masks just tipped me over the edge. I’m active and obviously, the only thing we can do at the moment is walk and be outside, which I enjoy doing, but with a mask and glasses in the middle of winter it’s a nightmare,” she explains.

As some of her friends had previously received laser eye surgery and wished they had done it sooner, Dawn decided not to wait any longer when she found that she was a suitable candidate for treatment. “They told me to stop thinking about it and mulling over it, and to just get it done,” she says. While she was slightly apprehensive to receive surgery, she was glad to find that the procedure didn’t take more than a few minutes to perform, and that the results were pretty much instant: “I couldn’t believe how quick it was. It probably can’t have been more than a couple of minutes per eye, it was ridiculous. Then as soon as I sat up I could see!”

Achieving better than 20|20 vision, Dawn was surprised when she realised that she could finally read the bottom line on an eye chart, something she couldn’t previously do while wearing her glasses. Enjoying clearer vision and complete visual freedom, she has found that day-do-day activities such as watching football and making her first morning coffee have now become a lot more enjoyable: “It was great being able to watch football and the news, as I can see the writing on the bottom of the screen. I could make my first morning coffee and just be able to see. Usually, I can’t as I’ve not put my glasses on at that point.”

Dawn is looking forward to life without glasses and has already been daydreaming about going for a jog in the rain or going down a slide in a waterpark. When asked if she would recommend the treatment to others, she commented: “I would absolutely recommend Optical Express to my friends and family. The main reason is the service has been fantastic from start to finish, and every person I’ve spoken to has been knowledgeable, friendly, and reassuring and understanding. I’ve not felt any pressure, I think it’s been great!”