A FATHER of three has regained his full eyesight after becoming one of the first patients in the world to undergo a new type of lens transplant.

Andrew Keen, of Ivybridge, suffered from complex and worsening vision problems including extreme long sightedness until the groundbreaking operation in Plymouth.

The 49-year-old has undergone surgery to implant acrylic multi-focal lenses in both eyes. He was operated on by Mr Nabil Habib, consultant ophthalmic surgeon, one of very few surgeons in the country trained to do the procedure.

Before the two operations, paid for privately, he could hardly see his wife's face or the outline of his car without glasses. Andrew, father of three and managing director of an engineering company, said: "It's been life-changing.

"My sight even with contact lenses was going downhill. This has made such a big impact.

"I still go to take my contact lenses out and then realise they're not in."

Since the age of five Andrew had suffered from multiple sight problems including a convergent squint, extreme long-sightedness, astigmatism and lazy eye. He could not find contacts to correct his problems, and heavy glasses left him with severe headaches.

In his mid-30s his near-vision began to worsen as a result of presbyopia, a condition which typically affects people around their mid to late 40s.

Andrew said: "I was so keen to avoid wearing glasses again that I tried every contact lens option available but none of them worked. I then purchased an extremely expensive pair of glasses to keep the weight down as much as possible, but even then the pressure on my nose and along my temples led to severe headaches and made me very depressed."

In May last year, Andrew went to see Dr Nabil Habib, who advised him that his case was particularly complicated and lenses were not yet available to correct the problem.

The following month a suitable new multi-focus lens – called the Lentis Mplus Toric – was launched after a clinical trial.

Mr Nabil Habib, consultant ophthalmic surgeon, said: "It's amazing technology, very clever, advanced and new.

"The eye is like a camera in effect. Removing the lens of the eye and replacing is normally done for cataract surgery."

Andrew decided to have it implanted and, 24 hours after surgery, was able to see clearly without glasses or contacts.

He had the operation on his other eye in September.