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Father sees his dream come true  Nine
months ago Rob McNichol told The Irish Post that his only dream was to
regain his sight and see his family again. Now, thanks to his son Rob,
that dream has become a reality.
A BLIND man whose eyesight was restored when his son’s tooth was
implanted into his damaged eye has told how he hugged and kissed the surgeon
who restored his sight.
Rob McNichol spoke proudly to The Irish Post this week and explained that
23-year-old Rob junior was his hero for undergoing a gruelling five-hour
operation to donate a canine tooth to the pioneering surgery.
Mr McNichol, of Charlestown, Co. Mayo, had spent the two years prior to
the operation coming to terms with being blinded by an accident at work.
The 57-year-old explained: “It was 2005 and I was fit and healthy.
“I worked in recycling and was melting aluminium one night when
I stupidly checked the melter without wearing protective goggles.
“The hot liquid aluminium exploded all over my face and I knew straight
away that I would never see again.
“Nine operations could not restore my sight so I began to take steps
to lead my life as a blind man.”
Rob, who is originally from Manchester, started to take cane and guide-dog
training, invested in a voice-activated computer and began writing a book
as he prepared for a life without sight.
He said: “It was difficult. Imagine learning how to make a cup of
tea or tie your shoelaces again, it’s not easy.
“But I knew I was lucky to be alive so I got on with it —
although I never gave up hope that it might be mended.”
And in spring 2007 that hope paid off when a relative put Rob in touch
with an eye surgeon at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton who was championing
a new surgery, Osteo-odonto-keratoprothesis, or OOKP.
Dr Christopher Liu performed the 15-hour operation, which saw Rob’s
son’s tooth used as a frame for a new lens to be implanted into
his right eye socket over two dates in December 2007.
Rob junior also underwent five hours of surgery to extract his tooth and
part of his jaw for the surgery.
And a shocked Rob soon learnt that the rare and expensive surgery, which
is not offered in Ireland, was a success.
It has restored the sight in his right eye although now leaves his baby
blue a robotic shade of red.
He said: “It was quite scary to wake up from the operation and be
able to see and now I look like the Terminator but it doesn’t bother
me a bit.
“My vision was a bit blurry but I could see; I just hugged and kissed
the doctor for the fantastic work he had done.
“I also am so proud and grateful to my son for everything he went
through; my life has been turned around — again.”
The operation — How Rob’s sight was restored
Stage 1:
(Five-day hospital stay; operation performed under general anesthetic)
A circular hole is drilled in the tooth and the surrounding bone is prepared.
The optical cylinder (lens) is cemented in place within the tooth, which
is then placed into a muscular pouch through an incision in the skin.
Procedure is carried out beneath the opposite eye and remains in place
until stage 2.
There is usually a gap of about three to four months between stages 1
and 2 to allow the tooth and bone to develop a blood supply.
Stage 2:
(Five-day hospital stay; operation performed under general anesthetic)
The tooth and bone lamina from the pouch under the other eye is retrieved.
The eye is prepared for surgery, which involves removing part of the
cornea, the iris (the coloured part of the eye), the lens and the vitreous
(gel inside the eye).
The tooth and bone lamina is stitched to the front of the eye and covered
with a piece of cheek skin.
Dr Christopher Liu explains how a tooth helped restore Rob’s sight:
“The tooth/bone complex is used as a frame for an optical cylinder
and it is the cylinder or lens which the patient sees through.
“The frame allows the eye to accept the device, as the plastic cylinder
would be rejected.
“Other bodily tissues have been tried but they do not work as well
and we usually use a canine tooth as that has the straightest, largest
girthed root, although sometimes we can use a pre-molar.” |
