"Was Blind, But Now I See . . . "

Here's a pretty amazing story from Scotland.

In 1941 John Gray was standing duty as a firewatcher in Glasgow during a major Luftwaffe air raid on the Clydeside industrial area. The last thing he remembers of that night was some glass shattering.

" . . . that was the last thing I heard until I came to in the Victoria Infirmary with my leg stretched out in plaster and a big bandage on my head.

"I had an injury to my head which took the sight away from my right eye."

He was the only survivor from the building he occupied, which was struck by a heavy bomb.

Mr. Gray recovered from his injuries, philosophically accepting the loss of one eye, and carried on with his life. In due course the son of a friend grew up and became an optometrist, and Mr. Gray began to see him for regular check-ups. Frank Munro realized that Mr. Gray's injury was to the lens of the eye rather than to the retina - in other words, the eye itself was still intact, but non-functional due to severe scarring of the external surface. However, Mr. Gray's brain had "forgotten" how to use the eye after so many decades of inactivity, and trying to fix it might cause unforeseen problems: so they left things as they were.

In 2007, Mr. Gray developed severe macular degeneration in his remaining eye. It looked as if he'd be blind in both eyes before long . . . until Frank had an idea. He got hold of a specialist, described the decades-old injury to Mr. Gray's right eye and asked whether something could be done.

Something could.

The Southern General Hospital's eye surgeon Dr Ian Bryce removed John's scar tissue and inserted a new artificial lens - something not possible 60 years ago. But the question remained - would John's brain remember how to see through his right eye?

It took a few weeks for John's brain to adjust but to everyone's relief John began to see again. At first it was blurred but now John's vision is good enough to read small print.

Frank has just issued John with his first set of bifocal spectacles with a lens in both the left and the right eye, and the 87-year-old is delighted. He says both his optometrist and his surgeon deserve a knighthood.

"I couldn't be more pleased," he declared. "I've got vision and I can read to a certain extent".

Talk about rising from the ashes! A wonderful story, and a testimony to hope.

Peter