Blind father sees his twin sons' faces for first time after surgeon restores his sight using one of his TEETH
- Ian Tibbetts, 43, damaged his eye 16 years ago and went blind in 1999
- Has now undergone pioneering surgery to have a new eye reconstructed
- Procedure uses a tiny plastic lens and one of the patients own teeth
- Lens is inserted into a hole drilled through the tooth, which is then implanted in the eye - giving him 40 per cent vision
By Anna Hodgekiss
A blind father-of-two has seen his twin sons faces for the first time after a surgeon restored his sight - using one of his teeth.
Ian Tibbetts, 43, first damaged his eye 16 years ago when a piece of scrap metal from an oven struck him in the right eye - ripping his cornea in six places.
The wound healed but he suffered more problems and eventually lost the sight in his right eye in 1998.
Ian Tibbetts, 43, lost his sight in 1999 and had never seen his twin sons Callum and Ryan. Last December he had surgery on his left eye which used part of a tooth to help him regain 40 per cent vision in that eye
Before the pioneering surgery, Callum and Ryan only appeared blurry. Mr Tibbetts said: 'They were just shapes - I couldn't make them out. Now I have my independence back now and can start looking after the kids while my wife is at work'
And just a year later, the former forklift truck driver had lost nearly all the remaining vision in his left eye.
Before the pioneering surgery, Mr Tibbetts had never seen his four-year-old twins Callum and Ryans faces - instead seeing them as blurry shapes.
Mr Tibbetts, who lives in Telford, Shropshire, with his wife Alex, 35, and their twin boys, agreed to have the revolutionary surgery other all other treatments failed.
The procedure - called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) - involves the reconstruction of a new eye using a tiny plastic lens and one of the patients own teeth.
The lens is inserted into a hole drilled through the tooth, which is later implanted in the eye.
The treatment Mr Tibbetts had is only suitable for certain types of blindness and can only be performed by one surgeon in Britain - Christopher Liu (right) at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton
HOW A TOOTH CAN RESTORE SIGHT
The lens is inserted into a hole drilled through the tooth, which is later implanted in the eye.
And as long as the retina is still functioning, the lens then provides a new window through which the patient is able to see.
Remarkably, because the tooth belongs to the patient, the body does not reject it.
The treatment is only suitable for certain types of blindness and can only be performed by one surgeon in Britain - Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton.
And as long as the retina is still functioning, the lens then provides a new window through which the patient is able to see.
Remarkably, because the tooth belongs to the patient, the body does not reject it.
The treatment is only suitable for certain types of blindness and can only be performed by one surgeon in Britain - Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton.
He said: 'I have my independence back now and I can start looking after the children while my wife is out at work.
'Before, the kids were just shapes. I couldnt make them out. I had to actually learn to tell them apart by their voices. I could tell whichever one it was by the way they spoke and sometimes by how quickly they moved.
'I had a picture in my head of what they looked like but they were better. Im a bit biased there.
'The image in my mind was totally different to how they were. I gave them a big hug and a kiss.
'The sight doesnt last forever so at the moment I am just taking each day as it comes and appreciating it.
Mr Tibbetts said that before the operation, he had to tell his sons Callum (left) and Ryan (right) apart by their voices. He said: 'I had a picture in my head of what they looked like - but they were better'
In 2009, Martin Jones, 42, told how he saw his wife for the very first time after going through OOKP surgery with Professor Liu.
Martin was blinded when a tub of molten aluminium exploded in his face and had never seen care worker Gill, 50, who he married eight years after the accident.
Professor Liu said: 'OOKP is not guaranteed to restore sight but it does have a high success rate.
'Patients who have the surgery are often able to see immediately and the quality of sight can be extraordinarily good.
'However it is only suitable for certain types of blindness, specifically patients who have severe and irreversible corneal damage.
The procedure - called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) - involves the reconstruction of a new eye using a tiny plastic lens and one of the patients own teeth. The lens is inserted into a hole drilled through the tooth, which is later implanted in the eye
'It is a complex procedure and takes a good five years to master it. I began working on it in the mid-nineties under the tutelage of Giancarlo Falcinelli, the surgeon who perfected it.
'It was a big commitment and I had to learn Italian in order to work with him.
'But to be able to restore the sight of someone who has been blind for many years is an immense privilege.'
Mr Tibbett's story of regaining his sight and seeing his twin boys faces for the first time will be shown in a BBC One documentary The Day I Got My Sight Back.
The programme - which will be shown at 10.35pm next Tuesday - was recorded over a seven-month period last year and follows three of Professor Lius patients.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2442404/Man-sight-restored-using-TEETH.html#ixzz2gpwKHUOr
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