Last week saw two safety awareness topics close to my heart running concurrently; National Eye Health Week and Hard Hat Awareness Week, both running from 21st to 27th September.
I lost the sight in my left eye and suffered severe head injury/trauma as a result of my fall from height, so both of these events are hugely important.
My fall from height left me 50% blind. The optic nerve of my left eye was severed and there was some damage done to the nerves within the maxillary zone where most of the impact occurred. I am in complete darkness in that eye now but it’s not an artificial eye. I am lucky that my right eye has served me well but a few weeks ago, I developed an eye infection in the good eye, resulting in blurred vision and discomfort. Thankfully, it cleared up quite quickly. It is only the second time I have had an eye infection since the accident in the good eye, aside from a speck of dust getting into the good eye towards the end of my time at Grangemouth. The last time I had an infection was May 2003. It is scary when it happens and it does make you a little bit anxious, until your sight returns.
During the question and answer section of my safety awareness talk, I am often asked if there is anything that can be done to fix the severed optic nerve or regenerate it somehow? There is a procedure out there which I’ve been keeping an eye on! The good one obviously! However, after ten operations/procedures over the years, I’m quite content and would not wish to go through any further surgery.
Health and Safety Speaker UK | Gary Gallagher 