After facing adversity in her mission to open Grays Court, Helen Heraty suffered another major setback when she learned she was becoming blind. She tells health reporter Kate Liptrot how a revolutionary lens implant gave her back her sight.

HELEN Heraty’s struggle to renovate the grand Grays Court hotel became a gripping BBC documentary.

An epic five years of filming at York’s Grade I building saw Helen struggle against bankruptcy and go through bitter disputes with neighbours in pursuit of her costly dream to turn the crumbling national monument into England’s finest historic hotel.

It was a situation which put Helen and her partner John under immense pressure, and shortly after a meeting with council officials, John died from a heart attack.

But Helen continued her fight and eventually managed to achieve their dream, opening Grays Court York hotel with her children’s support.

Unfortunately, the fight was not over for Helen; 18 months ago she noticed the vision in her right eye was cloudy and the 55-year-old had to face the prospect of going blind.

Helen visited her optician, who told her that she had an aggressive form of cataract, and within six months she could barely see anything at all from her right eye. The optician warned Helen that her left eye was also developing a cataract.

“It was severe to say the least,” she remembers, “I couldn’t read. For a long time, recognising people was quite difficult, everything was just white. If people came up on my right ride I couldn’t see them.

“I realised how bad it had got when I was trying to read through a pinhole lens and my daughter saw me and said ‘for goodness sake get something done’.

“It did concern me and I knew I had to do something about it.”

Helen, whose seven children are aged between ten and 26 years old, said she had no choice but to face lengthy waiting times with no guarantee that her sight could be saved.

Whilst waiting for the procedure, she saw an article in a national newspaper about the London Eye Hospital and the Femtosecond cataract laser and Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) implants it provides.

Knowing that soon she would be left completely blind, Helen made the decision, with the support of her family, to arrange a consultation.

She said: “I had previously had laser treatment on my eyes, which meant that a cataract operation would be a little more complicated. Going blind in my right eye in such a short period of time was terrifying, but I thought I had no choice but to wait for an operation. You don’t truly appreciate your eyesight until it fails, even seemingly small things like putting on eye make-up became impossible. I became increasingly reliant on my children to help me out with every day tasks. I couldn’t function – it was a very difficult time.

“The deciding factor for me was when, at my consultation at the London Eye Hospital, I was told that they could make my vision better than it had been before the cataracts, and I would also be free from glasses. This was something I simply did not expect.”

The procedure has cost £16,000 but as it was one Helen felt would make such a difference to her life, she should go ahead.

In mid December, Helen had her first operation on one eye. Following a second procedure and a period of recovery, she now has perfect vision.

“When I took off the bandages the first thing I remember was colour,” she said.

“The colour was incredible. Everything was clear. It’s astounding.”

 

The procedure

THE London Eye Hospital uses the Femtosecond laser for cataract removal, which is a bladeless treatment.

Instead of making an incision in the eye through which to remove the cataract, the laser helps surgeons create a 3D model of the eye at close to microns of accuracy.

Laser pulses, which last one quadrillionth of a second then dissolve the cataract, also create a tiny incision through which to remove the cataract.

This procedure reduces the risks of complications, such as damage to the fine membrane surrounding the lens, and minimises the risk of infection. Through the incision made by the laser, the Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) is inserted. This lens is the most advanced implant now available, and also has the capacity to be altered after surgery to give the best possible vision without the need for glasses.

Developed in the US by a team of Nobel Prize winning scientists, it is a revolutionary type of lens that can give a patient ‘high definition vision’ after it has been inserted into the eye.

York Press:

Helen Heraty immediately after her operation

Mr. Saj Khan, London Eye Hospital’s consultant ophthalmic surgeon, said: “Helen had a particularly fast-growing type of cataract, and had already lost a substantial amount of vision in her left eye. We discussed the options available to Helen, and decided that the Femtosecond cataract laser and LAL implant were the perfect treatment to improve her vision and give her freedom from glasses.

The procedure is minimally invasive and the whole operation is performed in a matter of minutes. The results will last for a lifetime, however, giving freedom from reading glasses and distance glasses without the glare and ‘halo’ problems associated with other implants.”

For more details about LAL lenses and the London Eye Hospital see londoneyehospital.com