While recovering from surgery on his shoulder, Richard noticed that his vision had rapidly deteriorated in the space of only three to four months. Going from 20|20 vision to constantly struggling with being able to see and read things up close, he was forced to start wearing reading glasses and grew increasingly worried about his rapid loss of vision.

“During my recovery from surgery I noticed that when I was sat reading the paper, it was getting further and further away to become clear. It’s quite frightening when you see your vision going that quickly,” he says.

Working as a professional firefighter, Richard quickly realised that his glasses were a major hindrance in the workplace, as having to wear them with his breathing apparatus led to blurry vision and made it difficult for him to read instructions. Also finding them becoming more and more of an inconvenience outside of work, he eventually decided to make an appointment at Optical Express: “My wife wears reading glasses as well, and if we go out at night and I’m just wearing shorts, you’ve got two sets of glasses, my wife has got asthma inhalers, so carrying and lugging things about was a massive inconvenience.”

Opting for lens replacement surgery, Richard was surprised to find that his vision had massively improved within less than 24 hours after treatment. “I’ve been texting and I’ve even read the instructions on the eye drops, which pre-operation I would not have been able to read without my glasses at all,” he explains. Looking back, he now wishes that he had made the decision to opt for surgery sooner, rather than struggling with eye tests and prescription glasses for over 4 years: “I wish I had looked into it more and just bit the bullet and said ‘I’m having it done’ there and then.”

Over the moon with his results, Richard is now looking forward to enjoying his new-found visual freedom: “I’m chuffed to bits, I’m so pleased that I am able to pick up my phone and read simple instructions and see text messages. It’s way above what I thought I would be at, at this stage. It’s been amazing.”