Pensioner makes 400 mile round trip to Leeds for sight-saving eye treatment

Richard, 76, who is originally from Leeds and now lives in London, has age-related wet-macular degeneration and needs injections to save his sight. If left untreated it could cause permanent blindness within months.

“No one wants to hear they need to have injections into their eyes. It’s an alarming prospect. I seem to suffer from extreme sensitivity in my eyes and the experience must be as ‘pleasant’ as it can be. I find Mr Raj Mukherjee’s technique to be exceptionally gentle and precise. If I didn’t have the injections, I would eventually lose my sight in that eye.”

Richard first became aware of a deterioration in his eyesight five years ago. “I noticed I couldn’t see a straight line anymore, they all appeared to be distorted or bent. It happened suddenly. I don’t think my eyesight can improve, it’s more about maintaining stability. I travel up to Spire Leeds with my wife every four weeks, we stay a few days and see friends, then my wife drives me home. We moved from Leeds to London five months ago to be closer to our daughter and I’ve been returning for the treatment since then.” During an intravitreal injection, a local anaesthetic is used to numb the surface of the eyeball before injection is administered through the white part of the eyeball and into the space at the back of the eye. The patient can go home soon after and needs to apply antibiotic eye drops for a few days following treatment.

“This is a common eye condition in patients over 65 years of age and specialist knowledge is required to tailor the treatment to achieve the best outcome. As this treatment can be daunting for patients, a good relationship with the doctor is essential,” says Mr Mukherjee.

“In Mr Danon’s case, the condition is moderately advanced with loss of near vision in one eye. Without treatment, there is a high chance he would have completely lost the central vision in his affected eye.”

“I’m hopeful for the future as I know I’m in good hands,” says Richard. “Mr Mukherjee is a research scientist also and has advised about new drugs being developed and currently undergoing clinical trials that may help lengthen the time in between injections.”