Jack Ryley

Advanced Refractive Cataract Surgery

His eyesight was so good, he was an army marksman during his National Service, coming fifth out of 1,000 men in a shooting competition. After completing his National Service, Jack Ryley relied on his excellent vision through his career as a surveyor with a fire insurance company although like many he started to rely on glasses for reading in his 40s.

Now retired, Mr Ryley, 84, loves going for a walk near his Cottingham home, watching people throw balls for their dogs in King George V playing fields. But when he started seeing double and his optician told him he was developing cataracts, Mr Ryley sought out expert help from consultant eye surgeon Milind Pande at Vision Surgery and Research Centre.

After having the lenses replaced in both eyes, Mr Ryley is back enjoying his walks around the playing fields, watching the dog-owners having fun with their pets. “I feel like a young man again,” he said. “Now, I can see at a distance of 150 yards the second the ball leaves the slinger to when the dog picks it up again. It’s absolutely marvellous.”

Cataracts develop as people age when the crystalline lens sitting behind the pupil becomes less transparent, causing cloudy vision and stopping some of the light reaching the back of the eye. Over time, cataracts will become worse and people’s vision will have a yellow or brown tinge, they will find bright lights dazzling, notice colours are faded and less clear or, like Mr Ryley, start seeing double.

Mr Ryley’s wife Mamie had gone to Mr Pande to have her cataracts removed so he knew exactly where to go for help. Mr Pande pioneers surgery to improve vision without the need for glasses or contact lenses and has been performing lens exchange surgery for more than 12 years, creating tailor-made techniques for all his patients.

His innovative PANFOCAL vision assessment tool allows Mr Pande and his team to customise the correct lens for each eye using specialised and thorough examinations and scientific calculations for every patient rather than relying on an off-the-shelf approach. “With the crystalline lens, which works much like the zoom lens in a camera, the first sign of age-related deterioration is when that zoom function fails and, instead of working like a zoom lens, it becomes stuck in the distance so the eye cannot change focus from distance to near vision,” Mr Pande said. “If you then wait, it will deteriorate further so, not only is the zoom function lost, the lens becomes cloudy and a cataract forms.”

Mr Ryley went for his first Advanced Refractive Cataract Surgery at Spire Hospital, Anlaby, in March last year. “After my wife had surgery on her 1st eye she was delighted with the results – and she had been very nervous going in to get her first eye treated,” he said. “So when she said she didn’t feel a thing and she had no hesitation getting the second eye done, I knew what I had made the right decision. I wasn’t nervous in the least. If my wife wasn’t nervous, I had no need to be. And she was right, I didn’t feel a thing.”

Mr Ryley then had his second Advanced Refractive Cataract Surgery and not only have the cataracts been removed, he no longer needs glasses for reading because Mr Pande was able to achieve optimum vision for Mr Ryley through the bespoke lenses he chose.

Just home from their holiday apartment in Spain, Mr Ryley is back in the playing fields, enjoying the dog-walkers play ball with their pets once more. “I don’t need to venture far these days,” he said. “I’m happy just sitting on the park bench or the balcony of our holiday home where I see all my friends and neighbours in the park with their dogs.”

“I would have no hesitation in recommending Mr Pande. It’s been wonderful for me.”