Prince meets Yorkshire veteran blinded by sniper fire

The young Royal was visiting St Dunstan's centre in Llandudno, North Wales, yesterday where he met a number of ex-servicemen who have lost their sight.

Simon Brown, 31, from Morley in West Yorkshire, was blinded by sniper fire while on a rescue mission in Iraq in 2006.

He showed the Prince his glass eye with the Union flag printed on it.

"When I was lying in hospital I didn't know how I was going to cope," he said. "But thanks to the support and sense of belonging I received from the St Dunstan's community, I've regained my confidence and am looking forward to a happy and independent future."

The Prince had earlier spoken of a childhood visit to hospital as he unveiled a state-of-the-art scanner at the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool

He told seven-year-old brain tumour patient Sion Meredith he was "scared" when he had an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan at the age of eight after being struck on the head with a golf club at his school.

William, 27, was opening a new intra-operative 3-T MRI scanner, the first in Europe for children.

The scanner was bought after a 3m donation to the hospital's charity by the Barclay Foundation.