![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_hum-240626-eye-sight.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTrudy Smith, 59, was registered blind after years of vision problems<\/p>\n
From left, Mr Sid Goel and Mr Abhinav Loomba, consultant ophthalmologists, and clinical director Mr Colin Vize(Image: Humber Health Partnership)<\/p>\n
A Hull woman who lost her sight has regained it following a rare and highly specialised stem cell transplant procedure carried out at Hull Royal Infirmary<\/a>. Eye hospital patient Trudy Smith had experienced worsening vision for many years due to severe ocular surface disease, eventually being registered blind<\/a>.<\/p>\n She had been attending the eye clinic for much of her life, but her condition continued to deteriorate. Mrs Smith, 59, said: \u201cIt was getting worse and worse, and they could not find a name for it.<\/p>\n \u201cI had cornea problems and started getting blurred vision. I went totally blind for a few years \u2013 I could not see a thing.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t even see my hand in front of my face. It was very scary.\u201d<\/p>\n Following assessment by consultant ophthalmologists Mr Sid Goel and Mr Abhinav Loomba, she was offered a limbal stem cell transplant \u2013 a complex procedure undertaken in only a small number of specialist centres across the UK, and one that had not previously been performed in Hull. The operation involved transplanting donor tissue to restore the surface of the eye, allowing stem cells to regenerate and prevent further scarring.<\/p>\n The surgery is technically demanding and can take several hours, with extensive preparation required beforehand, including sourcing donor tissue. Given the severity of Mrs Smith\u2019s condition, each eye was treated in stages, starting with the less-affected right eye.<\/p>\n Mr Goel said delivering the procedure locally marked a significant milestone: \u201cOnly a small number of centres across the UK are performing these procedures, so to deliver this in Hull for the first time is a significant step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Loomba said: \u201cThis is a complex operation but can transform lives, taking patients from being practically blind to regaining their sight and independence.\u201d The results for Mrs Smith have been life-changing.<\/p>\n Her vision has improved significantly, with her right eye returning to full sight and overall vision now exceeding the legal driving standard. \u201cI wish I had it done earlier,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information<\/a> about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trudy Smith, 59, was registered blind after years of vision problems From left, Mr Sid Goel and Mr…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,20509,104,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-658674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-hull-royal-infirmary","tag-nhs","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}