Eyesight Restored with Stem Cells

Russell Turnbull from Consett, County Durham lost his sight in a chemical attack on his way home following a night out in Newcastle in 1994.

On his bus journey home he tried to intervene in an altercation between two men which eventually spilled into a fight.

When Turnbull attempted to break up the scuffle, one of the men began squirting ammonia around the bus. The chemical hit his right eye, causing great damage to his cornea, leaving him with severely impaired vision – a condition known as Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency (LSCD).

“I was in agony instantly, my eye was clamped shut,” he said.

“I went home and my mum tried to wash out the chemical and then I went to hospital”

“I was in hospital for two weeks and eventually I was able to open the eye again”.

LSCD is a painful, blinding disease that requires long-term, costly treatment with frequent clinic visits and intensive hospital admissions.

“It was like looking through scratched Perspex. My eye was sensitive to light, it was constantly watering. I was unable to drive as any bright light would cause me pain” he said

The vision loss due to LSCD makes this disease not only costly, but often requires social support due to the enormous impact on the patient’s quality of life. This is further magnified by the fact that LSCD mostly affects young patients.

After undergoing various treatments with creams and washes Turnbull became a guinea pig for trials towards his eventual stem cell procedure.

He was one of eight patients with impaired vision who have been treated successfully by surgeons at the North East England Stem Cell Institute.

The treatment involved using a tiny amount of stem cells from the good eye and growing them in a lab.

The growth was then implanted in the damaged eye, which then helped it to begin functioning as normal – eventually restoring sight.

Dr Francisco Figueiredo, a consultant eye surgeon, that led the project said:

“Corneal cloudiness has been estimated to cause blindness in eight million people world wide each year. This new treatment will alleviate patient suffering and remove the need for long term multiple medications as well as returning the patient to functional and social independence.”

Mr Turnbull said: “I can’t thank the staff at the RVI (Royal Victoria Infirmary) enough. This has transformed my life, my eye is almost as good as it was before the accident.

“I’m working, I can go jet-skiing again and I also ride horses. I have my life back thanks to the operation.”

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