A 64-year-old man from Salisbury has credited a visit from a community eye-care specialist with saving him from losing vision in both eyes.

The quick actions of the Specsavers optometrists has been said to show how “vital” community eye care is, even during lockdown.

Brian Harvey, a retired retail worker, became concerned after he started to notice a shadow in the vision of his right eye.

Due to being blind in his left eye, Mr Harvey relied solely on the vision in his right.

He called Specsavers and spoke to optometrist and director Nick Hooks who assessed Mr Harvey’s case as being of high priority.

Upon examining Mr Harvey in his home, he diagnosed retinal detachment, which if left untreated can lead to sight loss.

Daily Echo:

Mr Harvey was rushed to University Hospital Southampton and underwent sight-saving surgery.

He has now fully recovered and the vision in his right eye has been restored.

Mr Harvey said: ‘If Nick didn’t act as quickly as he did, the surgeon wouldn’t have been able to save my sight in my right eye and I would have been left without sight in both eyes.’

‘I can’t thank him enough for saving my sight.’

Daily Echo:

Optometrist Mr Hooks said: ‘Mr Harvey thought that he would have to wait for an eye test because of lockdown, but had this happened, it could have been disastrous for his vision.

‘It was a lot for Mr Harvey to take in, but as soon as I had done the eye test, while remaining within government guidelines, I knew he needed to get to a hospital as soon as possible."

“His story goes to show why our home visits service is so vital.’

Routine optical home visits have restarted across the UK, after Specsavers opticians provided emergency home care during lockdown.