Novelist's miracle - 'HOW I GOT MY SIGHT BACK'

After a decade of living in the dark, an unrelated procedure made her see the light

- Kasia Jillings

Lynley Hood is an award-winning author with four books to her name, whose life plan was to read and write for as long as possible.

But in a series of events that could come from a novel, she suddenly and unexpectedly lost her sight at age 67 and endured 12 years of very poor vision, only to regain her sight just as unexpectedly and resume her writing career at 80.

While no one can be certain, Lynley and her retinal specialist Dr Harry Bradshaw believe the incredible turn of events is possibly the result of brain stimulation she received for a lower back pain research trial she took part in.

Recalling the night of December 20, 2009, when her vision first started to blur while reading in bed, Lynley says she initially put it down to tiredness.

"The next morning, it was still blurry," she recalls. "I had lost the central vision in my left eye and before long my right eye began to behave erratically as well. It had gone all staticky, like an old television set.

"For a lot of people with failing vision, it comes on gradually, but I was fearful that if my right eye went as suddenly as my left, I wouldn't even be able to find the right buttons to dial 111.