Seeing is believing as Kate gets HD vision

Kate, who lives in Harrogate, was keen to put a stop to "specs for everything" and have hi-tech lens exchange surgery, using the most advanced lenses available in the UK today which even incorporate

HD-vision.

Her surgery was performed by surgeon Oliver Backhouse at Yorkshire Eye Hospital, between Leeds and Bradford. Sports enthusiast Kate is set to celebrate her new sight and put her new-found bionic vision to the test on a glasses-free skiing trip to Lapland where she hopes to experience the Northern Lights in spectacular technicolour.

Over the last few years, she has grown increasingly dissatisfied with having to use glasses for everything from reading a letter from her children's school to supermarket shopping .

As a keen skier, scuba diver and gym enthusiast, Kate's new lenses mean that she can continue with her sport.

"More people need to know that this amazing sight-saving procedure is available. It has transformed my life, and I cannot believe the difference that these new lenses make to my vision. The procedure was virtually painless and I could tell that my vision had improved on the first night," says mother-of-three Kate.

"The results are literally astounding and I am now seeing the world through a clear lens and without peering over the top of a pair of glasses, which is fantastic and makes you feel younger.

"My work as a Sunday school teacher will also be so much easier and more enjoyable, while everyday things like shopping in the supermarket will be so much quicker.

"It really is like gaining more hours in your day as you're not constantly searching for specs.

"I am very excited about the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in full HD sight as it has been a long-time wish of mine. I have my fingers firmly crossed."

Kate's surgeon, Oliver Backhouse said: "This procedure has many advantages over other vision-correction treatments, including laser eye surgery.

"Kate suffered from the common condition of presbyopia, the age-related deterioration of sight most commonly associated with reading vision.

"It is already extremely prevalent in middle-aged people and is set to grow further in line with an increasingly ageing population. Anyone over the age of 45 looking at laser eye surgery would be advised to consider lens-exchange surgery to give freedom from glasses at distance, intermediate and near vision.

"The procedure itself is the same as the surgery for cataracts but rather than a standard lens being fitted, these lenses are truly state of the art, which means that Kate doesn't need glasses at all because her new lens really do give distance, intermediate and near vision."

Lens-implant surgery can correct both short and long-sightedness, making it ideal for anyone with bifocal or vari-focal specs. Intraocular lenses, such as Kate's, replace the eye's natural lens, enhancing its optical power.

For further information, visit www.yorkshire eyehospital.co.uk and www.cataract.org.uk