A woman who has been legally blind since childhood has become the first New Zealander to receive an artificial cornea to restore her sight.
June Irain, 59, from Paraparaumu north of Wellington, could not see anything beyond a metre before the operation three months ago.
"I keep reaching for my glasses and then remember I don't need them," Mrs Irain said.
She has had operations from the age of five. Surgery and radiotherapy to remove tumours from her eyes had left her with severe scarring to her corneas, The Dominion Post reported.
She has also had corneal transplants but suffered repeated rejections after her body's own defence system began attacking the foreign tissue.
Wellington Hospital eye surgeon Andrew Logan said Mrs Irain's transplants failed because the surfaces of her eyes were too damaged.
He performed the artificial cornea operation.
"Whereas traditional donor corneas take six to 12 months to get reasonable vision, she was able to see almost straight away," Dr Logan said.
More than 3000 artificial implants have been done internationally since 1992, but this was the first for New Zealand.
Each year, more than 250 people in New Zealand need cornea transplants.
