When her youngest child was conceived, Deborah Catlyn was blind. Four months into her pregnancy, she had pioneering surgery that would eventually lead to her regaining her sight.

The procedure was completed 18 months later – enabling Deborah to see for the first time the daughter she had named Miracle.

Deborah, blinded when a woman threw acid in her face at a nightclub in 2002, is one of about 20 patients who have benefited from ground-breaking stem-cell transplantation surgery, performed by Sheraz Daya and his team at the Centre for Sight at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead in West Sussex.

Author Information

Authored by Sheraz Daya MD FACP FACS FRCS(Ed) FRCOphth

Mr Daya is the Medical Director of Centre for Sight and listed amongst the 100 most influential ophthalmologists in the world (https://theophthalmologist.com/power-list/2018/sheraz-daya/).

Next review due August 2025.