A Dartford man rushed to hospital after an optician discovered a brain swelling during a routine sight test which could have destroyed his sight.

Wayne May, of Stanley Close, Dartford, experienced tunnel vision and difficulty reading following a fall in the summer, but hospital visits to determine the cause of his symptoms had detected nothing wrong. 

However after an eye check up at Vision Express Bluewater with his six-year-old son saw him rushed to hospital for emergency treatment, with an admission to Moorfields Eye Hospital in east London within hours.

The 43-year-old said: "I was shocked to be told a brain swelling had been picked up, especially because I’d already been to hospital with the same symptoms." 

With an emergency referral the opticians Mr May was admitted to Moorfields Eye Hospital in two hours and was kept in overnight. 

He said: "Had it not been for that eye test, I’d have ended up blind in my right eye. 

"The doctors told me I was at risk of losing my sight not within weeks, but within days.

"Words can’t express my thanks to the optometrist Andrew Ly, who spotted it - what do you say to someone who’s saved your sight?"

Mr May, who runs an animal rescue centre called Artisan Rare Breeds in The Brent, Dartford, is now under the care of a neurologist to monitor the pressure in his brain, and has had tests including an MRI since his referral.

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Mr Ly said: "I could see quite clearly there was evidence of swelling in Wayne’s right retina and I was extremely concerned about possible permanent damage to his sight and the impact on his brain given the fall he’d had. 

"I knew we needed to get him to hospital quickly, and made an emergency referral to A&E. 

"Wayne’s story highlights that the importance of eye tests can never be underestimated."

As a result of Wayne’s experience, he persuaded 19 members of his family to attend the Vision Express Bluewater store, for their vision care.

Wayne’s son, six-year-old Shane May, has also benefited from his eye test and now wears reading glasses. 

To book an eye test visit the Bluewater Vision Express store at Bluewater Centre or call 01322 624814.

Five life threatening conditions an eye test could detect:

Stroke
Bleeding in a cerebral artery can be detected through a field vision eye test. Difficulty in seeing can also indicate a stroke.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Blurring and blacking out can all signal the onset of MS. A field vision analysis in an eye test can detect inflammation of the optic nerve, which is crucial in diagnosis of the disease.

High Blood Pressure
An eye test reveals crossings in the blood vessels of the eye caused by hypertension, where the artery has hardened. Extremely high blood pressure can cause haemorrhages. 

Diabetes
Around one in 20 people in the UK are thought to have this condition. Blurred vision can be caused by glucose seeping into the lens and changing its shape, which makes it difficult to focus.

Eye cancer
Tumours of the eye affect the choroid layer between the retina and the whites of the eye. An optician can check for a a melanoma which looks like similar to a mole on the pigment layer of the retina.