Felixstowe Specsavers staff save Christmas lover's eyesight

June Peck, a grandmother from Martlesham Heath, has been bringing festive cheer to her family with hundreds of Santa decorations, but this year, her eye-sight rapidly declined.

A Felixstowe optician's quick thinking however saved her sight and her Christmas.

When June, 76, lost some peripheral vision, she contacted Specsavers in Felixstowe and was seen by Naeem Kazi, who suspected she had a detached retina, which if left untreated, can permanently damage a person's vision.

Naeem Kazi and June Peck (Image: Specsavers Felixstowe)

Mrs Peck said: "I have been having regular eye examinations at Specsavers Felixstowe, but one evening I was reading and to my shock, the words started to jump about on the page.

"I then started to notice that a half moon of darkness had appeared on my left eye, a bit like an eclipse, taking away a lot of my peripheral vision."

After being seen by Mr Kazi, he referred her to Ipswich Hospital for emergency surgery to reattach her retina.

The surgery required a local anaesthetic, laser in the back of the eye and gas in the eye to keep the retina away from the eyeball, all taking a total of just 45 minutes.

Some of the Christmas decorations June Peck sets up for the festive season (Image: June Peck)

Mrs Peck said: "The post-op recovery was tough.

"I had to lie on my face for four hours on the day of the operation and wear an eye patch.

"But over the next week to 10 days, the gas bubble reduced in size, and I started to see the bottom of my eye. 

"I am so grateful to Naeem and all the Specsavers team, and those at the hospital as their prompt action saved my sight.

"It also meant a lot to me and my family that Naeem called after I'd had the operation to see how I was."

Mr Kazi, who is optometrist director for Felixstowe Specsavers, said: "It's fantastic that June is on the road to recovery and back to enjoying life."