Acid attack victim may regain sight after stem cell operation 24 years after being blinded by thugs

James O’Brien, who was left blind in one eye after a chemical attack, is examined at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
BBC

The victim of an agonising corrosive attack has been given hope his sight can be restored after 24 years, thanks to a stem cell procedure at a pioneering London hospital.

James O’Brien was 18 when he had ammonia sprayed in his face, blinding him in the right eye. Doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital have learned how to take stem cells from his healthy eye and transplant them into his damaged one, hopefully allowing it to regenerate.

The battle to restore Mr O’Brien’s sight will be detailed in a TV documentary for BBC London’s Inside Out, celebrating the work of Moorfields.

Mr O’Brien, now 42, said: “I was walking home from the cinema one night when I was approached by a couple of teenagers. One tapped me on the shoulder and as I turned around he sprayed a liquid in my face. It felt like my face was on fire. I thought I was going to die.”

Moorfields Eye Hospital is also treating the eye disease of Vicky Cerolini, six, pictured with mother Silvia
BBC

A 15-year-old youth was later sentenced to four years in a young offender institution for the attack in Sutton.

Mr O’Brien, a father of two who works in music education and lives in Rotherhithe, received the stem cell transplant on April 25. Consultant ophthalmic surgeon Sajjad Ahmad said there was at least a 75 per cent chance of success.

A check-up last month showed the eye starting to improve.

“The cells are doing what they are supposed to,” Mr Ahmad said. “The surface is almost normal, without any recurrence of scar tissue. In a year’s time we are really hoping James will be in a situation where we will be able to give him his sight back.”

Mr O’Brien said the operation was “the first thing that has come along in 24 years” apart from a corneal transplant in 1998 that proved unsuccessful. He added: “If it works, next year they will be able to do a corneal graft that will hopefully restore some vision in that eye … I’m happy to be the guinea pig in helping medical advances.”

Acid attacks in London have soared by 79 per cent in two years. There were 465 violent “corrosive liquid” offences in 2017, up from 260 in 2015. Moorfields, in City Road, runs a clinic treating such victims and Mr Ahmad typically sees three new patients each week.

Inside Out also highlights pioneering work there using gene therapy in a bid to prevent children from losing their sight. Doctors have taken a skin sample from four-year-old Vicky Cerolini, who is registered blind, converted it into stem cells and grown replica eye parts in a petri dish to study her disease.

Her mother Silvia said: “It’s tough to see her struggling and knowing that it will only get worse. Her retinal cells are dying and there is no cure.” Dr Mariya Moosajee, a consultant ophthalmologist, said: “I’m quite confident that within three years we will identify a drug compound that should be able to help her and patients like her.”

  • Inside Out is on BBC1 on Wednesday at 7pm

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