Arun has been part of the police force for 9 years and throughout this he’s had to wear glasses and contact lenses which have affected him in his career. He said “both have quite big flaws”.

Due to the long shift patterns Arun has to work, he commented that he often struggles “with getting tired and dry eyes throughout my shifts”. Wearing contact lenses for long periods can cause irritation to the eyes, and have a huge impact of the number of eye infections that occur amongst lens wearers.

Wearing glasses since he was 13 years old, Arun finds having poor vision impacts everything and makes every “more difficult”.

We caught up with Arun 24 hours after his surgery and he told us about how life changing having laser eye surgery has already been for him. Even the smallest things for Arun such as “leaving my glasses out to shower and being able to see everything”.

Arun was “quite excited” to get the surgery as it was always something he has wanted to do to benefit him in his career as a firearms officer but with the cost of living rising, Arun felt he could never quite get the funds together.

Speaking to us about his surgery experience, Arun said the clinician team were very good at comforting him, and helping him ease any fears in regards to having the surgery. The surgery itself was “very, very quick for each eye” said Arun. The laser eye surgery procedure takes only 15minutes, with the pre-operative tests taking longer to do then the surgery itself.

Arun now looks forward to being able to work the long night shifts without getting tired or dry eyes and “just to be more effective really” commented Arun.

Arun also eager to go snorkelling for the first time on his holiday to Mexico and will enjoy it even more now knowing that he doesn’t have to worry or stress about contact lenses or glasses.

 It is the second time that Optical Express has chosen to thank NHS and Emergency Service workers in this way. In 2017, they launched their first ‘Thanks a Million’ campaign which saw them give away £1 million worth of free laser eye surgery. Over the course of the two campaigns more than £2 million worth of surgery will improve the lives of NHS and Emergency Service workers.

Since Optical Express was founded 32 years ago, the team are proud to have supported hundreds of humanitarian and philanthropic projects, donating over £33 million and counting to worthwhile causes in the UK and abroad.