Firefighter goes back on watch with perfect sight for life

Instead she was referred to hospital where specialists were surprised to discover she had cataracts in both her eyes which had remained undiagnosed since birth.

Now the 28-year-old mother of one has become the first patient to be fitted at an NHS hospital with a new generation of lenses which will give her perfect vision for the rest of her life.

Her surgeon, who describes her case as extremely rare, carried out two operations to fit the lenses last month – and now she has rejoined colleagues on full duties at Rawdon Fire Station in Leeds.

Ms Philpott, who has been a firefighter for nine years, said she noticed problems with deteriorating eyesight only this year when driving at night or looking at distances.

After being referred for tests at St James's Hospital in Leeds, she was shocked to find out that since birth she had suffered from cataracts that had been mild enough to go undetected, causing problems only after nearly three decades.

She was told the problem would only get worse over time and she would be unable to work unless it was treated. Standard replacement lenses would improve her distance vision but she would need glasses for reading, which would also interfere with her work.

Instead her specialist, James Ball, recommended a new generation of lenses which have been available for the past 12 months but are normally available only privately.

The operation was carried out under general anaesthetic last month, first on her left eye and two weeks later on her right, by taking out the lens which had gone cloudy and replacing it with the new one.

A few days after the first operation she was able to remove an eye patch to reveal she had perfect vision and will never need glasses again.

"It's hard to explain what it's like. I didn't think my sight was that bad but then when I had the comparison it was unreal," said Lynsey, who lives in Otley, near Leeds, with her partner Ian, who is also a firefighter, and daughter Madison, five.

"Perfect vision is something we take for granted."

Mr Ball estimated he sees a similar case once every five years. He occasionally sees cataracts in people in their 40s and 50s but they generally affect those in their 70s and older.

"It is extremely unusual," he added.

Standard treatment for older people involves fitting monofocal lenses which give better distance vision, but people still require glasses for reading.

"It's great technology if you are older – but the problem for someone in their 20s is that they have a wider natural range of vision by being able to see clearly in the distance and close up by contracting a muscle, which is something we all lose in our mid-to-late 40s," he said.

"We could have given her good distance vision but she needs to see up close when she's working rather than fumbling around for her glasses. It would have been no good."

He has privately fitted the new generation of multifocal lenses, which are six or seven times more expensive than standard treatments, to older patients who wanted them for cosmetic reasons but not in anyone as young.

They were not suitable for everyone but they were the best option for Lynsey.

"It's exceeded my expectations," he said.

"I was hopeful but I have been really thrilled at how it has performed. It is quite amazing technology."

Problem that clouds vision

Cataracts leave vision blurred or misty as light cannot pass through the lens to the back of the eye.

It affects as many as half of people over 65 – making cataracts the leading cause of damaged vision worldwide. Only around three in every 10,000 children are affected and these are usually picked up in childhood.

Following surgery most people need glasses but the lens implants used by Lynsey Philpott give her the vision of an average 20-year-old for life by simultaneously correcting problems with both near and long vision.

Her multifocal LENTIS Mplus lenses have already been fitted privately to about 200 patients in Yorkshire at centres in Leeds, Bradford and York.