A father has seen his baby for the first time after the operation with James Ball

A father has seen his baby son for the first time after a groundbreaking operation with an artificial cornea saved his sight. Stephen Armitage, 36, who was born blind in one eye, lost his sight after an infection caused by a contact lens. For the past three years the father-of-two, from Dewsbury, Yorkshire, had only been able to make out hazy images, and had never seen his youngest son Harry’s face, or read a book to four-year-old Joshua.

In a pioneering seven-hour operation, surgeons were able to rebuild his infected eye with an artificial cornea, enabling him to see once again.

Consultant eye surgeon James Ball, at St James University Hospital in Leeds, described Mr. Armitage’s operation as ‘unique’ for the hospital. ‘Before the operation, he had extremely poor vision and was heading for no perception of light, said Mr. Ball ‘It is very unusual for us to use an artificial cornea to get a view of the back of the eye. I have only done it once before”.

You can read the whole article here.

A video with James Ball discussing the risks  associated with wearing contact lenses