Arthur McMenemy, from Congleton, had reached the stage where he was forced to wear his glasses all day, every day, and was fed up of having to rely on them to see properly.
He had enquired about corrective laser surgery a few years earlier, but was advised his eyes had deteriorated too far for such a procedure to be effective. But now he is seeing clearly again after having his lenses replaced by consultant ophthalmologist Mr Say Aun Quah at Spire Regency Hospital in Macclesfield.
Mr McMenemy, who served for 30 years in CID at Cheshire Police, said: “The results are outstanding. “You wouldn’t believe the difference and you begin to notice it almost immediately.”
The 65-year-old said his new lenses had made a huge difference to his day-to-day life and the £5,800 was ‘money well spent’. “I was really fed up of wearing glasses,” the granddad-of-two said. “I was paying a fortune for them, they’d break or I’d leave them somewhere and not know where I’d put them, and they weren’t very comfortable to wear all the time. “Now the improvement is fantastic - I don’t have to wear my glasses at all.
One of my hobbies is going out walking - now I can take the map out to read without having to reach for my glasses, and of course I benefit from seeing my surroundings much more clearly too. I can do things like go swimming much more easily now, and I had no problems on a holiday to Spain in the sunshine – all I needed was a pair of sunglasses.
“It’s also handy when you’re looking after the grandkids and you need eyes in the back of your head!” Mr McMenemy admitted he was a little nervous ahead of the operations, but added: “Everyone at Spire Regency really puts you at ease. Mr Quah was excellent too – he explained the procedures thoroughly and is such a nice person. He was more like a friend than a consultant."
“I would definitely recommend the procedure to others – it’s made a huge difference to my life.”