Denise

Denise, a supermarket delivery driver from Coatbridge, struggled with her vision from a very young age. Often bumping into large objects as a child, she was referred to an optician at the age of four and had been wearing glasses ever since. Finding that they were increasingly interfering with both her hobbies and her work, she finally decided to opt for an alternative vision correction solution to rid herself of the constant hassle and inconvenience.

“I ride a motorcycle and my glasses used to squish against my face when you put my helmet on,” she explains. Also being fond of Taekwondo, she found that she was often at a disadvantage when sparring as she struggled to see: “When we spar I have to take my glasses off but it was really challenging because we are trying to spar against 6ft guys and you cannot see them.” Besides interfering with her hobbies, working as a delivery driver meant that she was on the go in all weather conditions, with rain and cold temperatures often leading to foggy glasses and blurred vision.

Wanting to join the police force since she graduated from university, Denise was devastated when she was told by her optician that she didn’t meet the eyesight standards for police recruitment. Not ready to give up yet, she started doing research into laser eye surgery: “I’d seen on YouTube that Optical Express did a live surgery, and I watched that and thought it was really informative. So I thought, here’s a surgery that’s easily accessible and it’s not too far from where I live either, and all the reviews about it just seemed really positive.”

Finally deciding to go for it, Denise has now received treatment and is over the moon with her results. She is most looking forward to being able to go on a hassle-free holiday with her friends and is excited to get into swimming as this is something her glasses previously prevented her from doing: “I’m not a great swimmer but it’s because I’ve never had the confidence going to the pool without my glasses on. So yeah, I feel like I should learn to swim this year, that would be pretty good!”