A man from Ely who could hardly see without wearing his glasses has completed a run for charity following new successful laser eye treatment. 

Phil Waddilove had a very high prescription of –7, meaning he was short sighted, but this has all changed now thanks to vision correction treatment. 

He was aware of his poor vision every day and it particularly affected his sports hobbies. 

He said: “I had one pair of all-purpose varifocal glasses and another pair to help with close-up screen work.  

“When my eyes were tired towards the end of the day, I had to keep switching the pairs back and forth, and it was a real pain. 

“I have always enjoyed taking part in sports like rugby and swimming, neither of which are great for wearing glasses.  

“I regularly swim at my local pool for fitness and depend on prescription goggles in the water – it’s even a challenge walking to the pool without them on!” 

Ironically, for someone whose sporting pursuits are affected by vision, it was his PE teacher who first suggested he needed glasses as a teenager. 

“During a game of school basketball, he suggested I needed my eyes testing - I thought he was joking, but actually I really did need glasses, and have been in them ever since,” said Phil. 

30 years on, Phil decided to explore his options and it was his cousin who recommended Optegra, a specialist eye hospital group offering a range of vision correction options. 

He went to Optegra Eye Hospital in London and after many thorough tests in his consultation, was recommended to have one of the newest forms of laser eye surgery. 

Presbyond is a form of laser where one eye is treated to focus in the distance, and the other to focus close-up, and the brain learns to adjust between the two resulting in excellent all-round vision. 

Phil said: “With the increasing expense of having multiple back-up pairs of varifocals, problems picking frames that would accommodate the thick lenses I needed, and the annoyance of constantly switching between pairs of glasses, I was spurred in to taking action. 

“I was told that my dominant eye would be able to see distances clearly and the other eye would have close-up and middle-distance vision. The optometrist showed me what it would be like using lenses which was helpful.” 

Phil was treated by Mr Amir Hamid, medical director and consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Optegra. 

Mr Hamid said: “After all the tests, we were confident that Presbyond would provide the best outcomes for Mr Waddilove, as it results in excellent vision at all distances.  

“This means it could support him with work and close-up screens, as well as the distances needed to enjoy sport again. We are so pleased with the excellent result, better than 20/20 vision.” 

Phil said: “Swimming is so much more enjoyable and because I no longer need to run in glasses, I was able to complete the Cancer Research 60-mile challenge in September 2022. 

“I would not have attempted it wearing glasses due to sweat and rain on the lenses, it would have been too challenging. 

“On a day-to-day basis, life is better - I can see the computer screen more clearly at work, driving is so much more enjoyable. To be honest, it’s a revelation to be able to wake up and not reach for my glasses!” 

Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 140,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded.  

For more information on the Presbyond procedure visit: https://www.optegra.com/presbyond-laser-eye-surgery/