SIGHT RESTORED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21758, 24 March 1934, Page 2 (Supplement)

SIGHT RESTORED

WONDERFUL OPERATION EXCITEMENT OF VISION YOUNG MAN'S IMPRESSIONS Further details have been obtained of tlio recovery of sight after 27 years of almost total blindness, by Mr. H. H. Watson, of Newcastle, England. He lost his sight at tho age of two as a result of measles. Recently a wonderful operation was performed by Mr. J. W. Tudor Thomas, of Cardiff, at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital. New corneas from tho eyes of a blind man and woman were grafted on his eyes to replace the diseased corneas which had caused his own blindness. " Tho trees, tho flowers, tho colours —homo and my friends—it all seems too good to believe! " he said. " During my stay in London I saw my first talkie picture, my fiancee, Miss Edith Uobson, of Chilton, persuading mo to go. It was "King Kong," and I enjoyed it immensely. It did not seem a bit strange, as I had educated myself by getting my sister to read to me, and listoning to the wireless. "1 used to read a little with a magnifying glass, but my nose used to blacken with- the printing ink from the newspapers. Even then 1 could manage to do it for only about three minutes. Now I can read quite well. I am looking forward to going to tho seaside, and to trips in the country." "Our reunion after his first operation was a dramatic event in both our lives," said Mr. Watson's mother. " Tears of joy rolled down our cheeks as for tho first time he realised what his parents, his sister, and his home really looked like. He said to me, ' Well, mother, I have never seen your face plainly before.' Greeting Family Cat

" When lie entered the house his first action was to pick up the family cat, ' Tibs,' and maKe a great fuss or hira. For years Tibs had kept out of iny son's way, as in his infirmity he was unable to soo clearly. He saw there was a fence round oar garden which before he only knew by instinct. "The blue curtains in our dining room seemed to fascinate him. He played about with them for some minutes as if to make sure he was not being deceived. In the garden he was tireless, and yesterday insisted on digging there. While he was doing this he saw me through the window and shouted, ' It seems wonderful to be free again, and able to Bee you. I don't know how I stuck it before.' "After the first of the two operations he dimly saw with his one eye some Michaelmas daisies, and at once picked a bunch and buried his face in them. While in London he. went for a day to Brighton to see a sister of mine, and was overcome with the sight of the sea'. He walked up and down the promenade after most people had gone' home." Mr. Watson spoke too, of his gratitude to the blind man and woman from whose eyes were taken the corneas /the clear membrane in front of the eye), which were of no use to them, but have enabled him to see.

" I walked to the operating-room .with the blind man," he said, " and together we went on the operating table. I did not know him, and I have never seen him from that day to this. I met the woman at the operation to my other eye. We only just met, for she was in the operating-room under ether, and whea they had taken the cornea from her eye and grafted it on mine she had gone!" Engaged to Nurse

" Mr. Watson's fiancee, Miss Edith Eobson, is a pretty young nurse, who nursed him back to health and strength after his operations; '• - • - " We intend to get married as soon as we can, but my fiance is going to find a job first," she said. " He wants to get a business in the north-oast, and then we shall settle dcwn there. It may be this year."

She revealed that Mr. Watson had been employed as a musician in London and has also conducted his _ own orchestra in Newcastle. It was his intention to join an orchestra for the evenings after carrying on the business during the day. Miss Robson took Mr. Watson from the hospital to nurse him nt her home in Bnvswater, while he was rcovering from the first operation and waiting for the second, and there at last she watched his eyesight improve day by day.

" Before the operation he was perpetually seeing through a London fog. Now the ordinary light of day is bright and dazzling," she said.