Pinchbeck woman back behind wheel after cataract surgery

A retired Pinchbeck teacher is back behind the wheel with ‘complete confidence’ following two cataract surgeries - and is encouraging others to not put off the procedure.

Helen Banks, a grandmother of four who is still involved in school governance, first noticed issues with her sight when driving at night.

With the problem worsening, and red traffic lights blurring in front of her ‘like bunches of cherries’, Helen limited driving to short distances and feared for her future independence.

She explains: “My optician told me I had cataracts forming about two years ago, but it wasn’t severe enough then to require surgery. However, I was conscious my vision was deteriorating, so eventually I stopped driving at night.”

Within weeks of Helen being advised that cataracts in both eyes needed attention, she had her first operation at SpaMedica Peterborough.

Helen went onto have her second operation, on her right eye, earlier this year.

She said: “Because your eyes deteriorate so slowly, you don’t realise just how impaired your vision has become.

“This has taken me back decades.”

Helen lives with her husband Clayton on a farm in the Pinchbeck area.