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Blind Irishman sees with the aid of son's tooth in his eye
www.physorg.com ^
| 2-27-2008
| Staff
Posted on 02/27/2008 12:11:22 PM PST by Red Badger
An Irishman blinded by an explosion two years ago has had his sight restored after doctors inserted his son's tooth in his eye, he said on Wednesday.
Bob McNichol, 57, from County Mayo in the west of the country, lost his sight in a freak accident when red-hot liquid aluminium exploded at a re-cycling business in November 2005.
"I thought that I was going to be blind for the rest of my life," McNichol told RTE state radio.
After doctors in Ireland said there was nothing more they could do, McNichol heard about a miracle operation called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) being performed by Dr Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton in England.
The technique, pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, involves creating a support for an artificial cornea from the patient's own tooth and the surrounding bone.
The procedure used on McNichol involved his son Robert, 23, donating a tooth, its root and part of the jaw.
McNichol's right eye socket was rebuilt, part of the tooth inserted and a lens inserted in a hole drilled in the tooth.
The first operation lasted ten hours and the second five hours.
"It is pretty heavy going," McNichol said. "There was a 65 percent chance of me getting any sight.
"Now I have enough sight for me to get around and I can watch television. I have come out from complete darkness to be able to do simple things," McNichol said.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: blind; freepun; health; medical; regenerativemedicine
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I guess we really DO have eyeteeth!..............
To: Red Badger
2
posted on
02/27/2008 12:12:52 PM PST
by
VRWCmember
(McCain 2008 - If it's inevitable, you might as well lay back and try to enjoy it.)
To: Red Badger
I guess we really DO have eyeteeth!.............. Not this fellow: evidently he had no teeth to spare, and so was forced to use his son's eyeteeth instead.
3
posted on
02/27/2008 12:14:07 PM PST
by
r9etb
To: Red Badger
is there NOTHING obama can’t do???
In all seriousness, this is a great story..:)
4
posted on
02/27/2008 12:14:42 PM PST
by
GeorgiaDawg32
(I'm a Patriot Guard Rider..www.patriotguard.org for info on joining.You DON'T have to ride to belong)
To: Red Badger
That headline comes up every few weeks. It’s pretty common I guess. /sarc
5
posted on
02/27/2008 12:15:38 PM PST
by
Borges
To: GeorgiaDawg32
You mean O’BAMA?................
6
posted on
02/27/2008 12:16:56 PM PST
by
Red Badger
( We don't have science, but we do have consensus.......)
To: Red Badger
What, no embryonic stem cells? Kill the story.
To: Borges
That headline comes up every few weeks.
We're about due for the perennial medical maggot story.
8
posted on
02/27/2008 12:19:52 PM PST
by
SpaceBar
To: Red Badger
yea, him..the irish guy..:)
9
posted on
02/27/2008 12:20:26 PM PST
by
GeorgiaDawg32
(I'm a Patriot Guard Rider..www.patriotguard.org for info on joining.You DON'T have to ride to belong)
To: GeorgiaDawg32
I’ve always heard of the Black Irish, but never thought I’d actually see one.....
10
posted on
02/27/2008 12:21:30 PM PST
by
Red Badger
( We don't have science, but we do have consensus.......)
To: GeorgiaDawg32
Who on earth thought of putting a tooth in an eye...........?
To: Red Badger
12
posted on
02/27/2008 12:23:06 PM PST
by
ButThreeLeftsDo
(Carry Daily. Apply Sparingly.)
To: Red Badger
This story is just screaming for a diagram. I don't have the slightest idea what they did. I'm guessing that his retina survived his accident, but the cornea didn't. I just can't picture what they did.
13
posted on
02/27/2008 12:23:57 PM PST
by
KarlInOhio
(Rattenschadenfreude: joy at a Democrat's pain, especially Hillary's pain caused by Obama.)
To: Eaker; TheMom
Who on earth thought of putting a tooth in an eye...........? Truble?
14
posted on
02/27/2008 12:24:45 PM PST
by
Allegra
(Posting without being logged on since 2001)
To: KarlInOhio
Goooogle "Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis" and there is lots of stuff and images, too!.....
15
posted on
02/27/2008 12:25:08 PM PST
by
Red Badger
( We don't have science, but we do have consensus.......)
To: Red Badger
16
posted on
02/27/2008 12:26:54 PM PST
by
CarrotAndStick
(The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
To: Red Badger
17
posted on
02/27/2008 12:27:54 PM PST
by
Conspiracy Guy
(I voted Republican because no Conservatives were running.)
To: KarlInOhio; Red Badger
I agree. First thing I did was Google. Here’s a sight with both a diagram, and a picture. Can’t read the text, though... :-)
www.med.kindai.ac.jp/optho/ookp/ookp.htm
18
posted on
02/27/2008 12:29:07 PM PST
by
HeadOn
(Maybe letting the Republican party die is the only way out...)
To: Red Badger
If they could fashion the whole thing with those prosthetic eyeball irises, it would be hard to tell a real one from a prosthetic.
19
posted on
02/27/2008 12:29:18 PM PST
by
CarrotAndStick
(The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
To: Red Badger
20
posted on
02/27/2008 12:30:41 PM PST
by
doug from upland
(Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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