England’s first artificial cornea transplant hailed a success

Published

12 months ago

June 4, 2024

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A 91-year-old man has become the first person in England to be fitted with a ground-breaking artificial cornea.

Cecil ‘John’ Farley, 91, said his sight was now improving thanks to the procedure, which he underwent after 15 years of suffering from problems with his eyes.

The cornea is the clear outer layer at the front of the eyeball – and is described by the NHS as the “window to the eye”.

A person can suffer from vision problems and pain if the thin transparent covering is damaged by disease or injury – with those affected often left facing a long wait for a human transplant.

However, it is hoped that the artificial device, called EndoArt, will slash waiting times, ease pressure on the NHS and eliminate the risk of the human body rejecting corneas received from an organ donor.

Mr Farley, from Chobham in Surrey, said he was overjoyed by the transplant – in his right eye – because it meant he could continue to see his 83-year-old wife Elizabeth.

He said: “I can still see my wife after 63 years of marriage, we can just carry on as normal and live life as fully as we can.

“It makes your life fuller when your eyes work properly – you don’t realise how debilitating it is until it happens to you.”

Before the surgery, Mr Farley had no vision in his right eye – but his sight has slowly been improving ever since the procedure in February.

He said: “It has made a great difference to my sight. It was very blurred and I couldn’t distinguish a face.

“Now I can see better with it, the brighter the light the better. It’s coming along slowly – they said it could take up to a year.”

The artificial cornea has been compared to a contact lens. The device, which replaces the inner part of the cornea, is surgically attached to the eye by a single stitch and is put in place with a gas bubble.

Patients could see major impact

One of the biggest advantages of using artificial corneas is the huge reduction in waiting time for the procedure. It means patients on the elective backlog who risk further deterioration in their vision can be seen months earlier than they would waiting for a cornea transplant from an organ donor.

But at the moment the artificial cornea operation can only be carried out on patients who meet the “complex eye” criteria. These include patients whose previous human cornea transplant has failed.

Consultant ophthalmologist Tom Poole, who carried out the procedure, is confident the surgery can be rolled out to “virgin eye” patients in the future. These are patients with no previous history of eye surgery.

Mr Poole told me the international ophthalmology community was growing increasingly confident with artificial corneas which are relatively easy to make and their production could be scaled up quite easily.

He and his colleague Hanbin Lee at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust have already carried out three more operations since February.

The latest tests on Mr Farley suggest the procedure has been a success. Three more patients have been identified and are listed for surgery.

Only 200 people worldwide, including Mr Farley, have been fitted with an EndoArt so far, but there are hopes it can be more widely rolled out.

Organic cornea transplants usually come from deceased donors. A total of 4,719 were donated to the NHS in 2022/23, according to the latest available figures.

Consultant ophthalmologist Thomas Poole, from Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey, which carried out the procedure, described the artificial cornea as a “great advancement”.

He said there had been fears that Mr Farley was “kind of getting to [his] last hope” after a previous human transplant failed.

Mr Poole said: “I had a very frank discussion with him before and I said: ‘Look, your graft has failed, you’re back on the waiting list. Because your other eye sees quite well, you’re not a high priority on the waiting list and you could be waiting for another year’.

“He’s in his 90s now and said ‘I just can’t wait that long. Is there anything else?’ And so this sprung to mind.

“I had just read a publication on very good reports from this artificial graft and it was that that made me think actually, maybe we could use this for John.”

Mr Poole and his colleague Hanbin Lee have now successfully given four patients artificial corneas in the last two months and the initial results have shown an improvement in vision.

He added: “Looking forward to the future, I think this may end up replacing human corneas for certain types of corneal graft patients.

“In maybe 10 or 20 years’ time – this may become the norm where we don’t need a human cornea, and we can just take one out of the box.”

Mr Farley, a former flooring company owner, said that once his sight is restored he hopes to do practical tasks like repairing a watch.

However, for now, he is content “pottering about”.

UK

Manhunt after five people stabbed at event in southeast London

Published

2 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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Manhunt after five people stabbed at event in southeast London

A manhunt has been launched after five people were stabbed at an event in southeast London, police have said.

Officers were called to Nathan Way, Thamesmead, at 4.19am on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Five people were found with stab wounds and were taken to hospital where their injuries are still being assessed.

No arrests have been made.

“Enquiries are ongoing and a cordon will remain in place throughout the day,” a Met Police statement said.

Police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

UK

Three Iranians charged under National Security Act after investigation by UK counter-terror police

Published

4 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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Three Iranians charged under National Security Act after investigation by UK counter-terror police

Three Iranian men have been charged with offences under the National Security Act in the UK, police have said.

The trio have been charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between 14 August 2024 and 16 February 2025, following an investigation by counter-terror police.

The Metropolitan Police said the three men are Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55.

The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran, police said.

All three men will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Saturday, the force added.

Sepahvand, of St John’s Wood, London, has also been charged with “surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research” with the intention of “committing serious violence against a person in the UK”, according to a police statement.

Meanwhile, Manesh, of Kensal Rise, London, and Noori, of Ealing, London, have also been charged with “engaging in conduct, namely surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK, would be committed by others”.

Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, described the charges as “extremely serious”.

“Since the men were arrested two weeks ago, detectives have been working around the clock and we have worked closely with colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service to reach this point,” he said.

“Now that these men have been charged, I would urge people not to speculate about this case, so that the criminal justice process can run its course.”

A fourth Iranian national aged 31 who was arrested was released with no further action on Thursday.

In a separate unrelated probe, counter-terror officers arrested five Iranian men, aged between 29 and 46, during raids across various locations in Greater Manchester, London, and Swindon earlier this month.

Last October, MI5 director general Ken McCallum said the UK intelligence agency had responded to 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots since 2022, warning of the risk of an “increase or broadening of Iranian state aggression in the UK”.

UK

Two firefighters and one other person die after fire at former RAF base in Oxfordshire

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2025

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Two firefighters and one other person die after fire at former RAF base in Oxfordshire

Two firefighters and a member of the public have died in a large fire in Bicester, the fire service announced.

The firefighters died in the inferno at a former RAF base in Oxfordshire, which now hosts historic motoring and aviation centre Bicester Motion.

The local fire service was called to the scene at 6.39pm last night.

Chief Fire Officer Rob MacDougall said: “It is with a very heavy heart that we today report the loss of two of our firefighters. Families have been informed and are being supported.

“Our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times and we ask for privacy to be respected.

“We cannot release any details at present but will provide further information as soon as we can.”

Two other firefighters sustained serious injuries and are currently being treated in hospital, Oxfordshire County Council said in a statement.

Footage shared on social media shows plumes of smoke billowing into the sky and flames swallowing the large building.

Ten fire crews attended the incident, with four remaining at the scene. The fire is still ongoing, but it is considered under control.

Local residents were advised to remain indoors and keep their windows shut, but this advice has now been lifted.

Bicester Motion said in a statement it would be closed today and over the weekend.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

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