Cecil Farley is the first man in England to receive an artificial cornea, as the 91-year-old survived a historic sight-saving operatin.
After an initial failed surgery with a human cornea, Farley’s surgeon offered him the chance to skip the year-long wait for another donation from a deceased individual and try an artificial one.
The success of the surgery has sparked hopes for more patients to receive this life-changing operation, as human donor numbers are experiencing a severe dip of 40 percent.
Farley, known to his friends as John, is one of only 200 people worldwide to have received an artificial cornea transplant.
Once he fully regains his sight, the pensioner aspires to repairing watches and other practical tasks, but has said that he is satisfied with “pottering about” for the time being.
Farley said: “It has made a great difference to my sight. It was very blurred and I couldn’t distinguish a face.
“Now I can see better with it, the brighter the light the better. It’s coming along slowly – they said it could take up to a year.”
The operation was conducted by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust consultant ophthalmologist Thomas Poole and his colleagues, who have successfully given four patients artificial corneas in the last two months.
Originally from Chobham in Surrey, Farley has had sight issues for 15 years, having no vision in his right eye.
Since his operation in February, he has noted a slow but steady improvement.
Farley said: “I can still see my wife after 63 years of marriage. We can just carry on as normal and live life as fully as we can.
“It makes your life fuller when your eyes work properly — you don’t realise how debilitating it is until it happens to you.
“I had a very frank discussion with [Farley] before”, Poole shares, “and I said, ‘Look, your graft has failed, you’re back on the waiting list. Because your other eye sees quite well, you’re not a high priority on the waiting list and you could be waiting for another year.'”
“He’s in his 90s now and said ‘I just can’t wait that long. Is there anything else?’ And so this sprung to mind, I had just read a publication on very good reports from this artificial graft and it was that that made me think actually, maybe we could use this for John.””
The artificial eye part was created by ophthalmological medical device company EyeYon Medical and is called EndoArt.
“EndoArt represents a new hope to patients who are suffering from chronic corneal oedema as an alternative to human tissue,” said the company’s chief commercial officer, Charles Holmes.
