By Colette Fountain
WHEN paramedic Nathan Clough underwent laser eye surgery in 2022 he was hopeful about the impact it would have on his life.
Covid mask restrictions had made wearing glasses seem impractical, and interfered with his medical volunteering work.
Around 100,000 people undergo the elective surgery each year.
The procedure began in 1988 and works by changing the curvature of the cornea’s front surface to correct how it focuses light – with LASIK the most popular variation.
However, Nathan remains, three years on, in chronic agonising pain, with a prescription that is worse than before his corrective surgery.
The surgery through Optical Express has impacted nearly every aspect of his life, from his job, to his finances, to his trust in medical care.
He told The Sun: “I knew something was wrong the day after during the post-op.
“I had complete blindness, lots of pain, halos, glares, starbursts, I can’t focus on short or long distance anymore and I have dry eyes.”
The visual disturbances can be particularly bad at night, making it almost impossible for for him to drive as the bright headlights distort the vision.
Referring to immediately after the surgery, Nathan said: “I couldn’t even see the card machine to enter my PIN number… I couldn’t see a thing.”
Surgeons reminded Nathan that some of these issues might take time to resolve – dry eyes, in particular, generally takes several months to ease – and yet for Nathan, he is still struggling on a day to day basis three years later.
It has left Nathan needing a long list of expensive treatments just to manage the pain, even after the procedure itself cost £3,231.
This includes an overnight dry eye relief gel which costs him £144 a year, omega 3 oil for £606 a year, and a dry eye spray for £95 a year.
The various eye drops, hot compresses and supplements cost Nathan nearby £2,000 a year.
In addition, he has had to make modifications around the house, like a specialised computer monitor to reduce eye fatigue which cost £1,525, as well as more regular eye tests and replacement glasses to keep up with his changing prescription.
He said: “I can no longer work in paramedic science as I can’t do emergency response driving.
“I work as a developer and engineer so I have lots of screen time but I need to take regular breaks and it causes me pain.”
Issues not flagged
Since the surgery, Nathan has realised a number of concerns that could have been flagged by ophthalmologists and may have shown he was a higher risk patient, he claims.
For one, his eyes aren’t perfectly round and he “can’t wear contact lenses because my eyes get so dry” – both of which are risk factors for laser eye surgery patients.
While this does not rule out the procedure, it was an additional risk that Nathan feels he wasn’t adequately made aware of.
He also says he didn’t meet his surgeon until the day of his operation, which appears to be common practice according to reviews for high street providers.
One of the main issues Nathan is keen to highlight with some retailers is that he believes sales are an integral part of their business model.
He said: “It makes them a lot of money so there is a risk that they have an incentive to tell people that it’s safe.”
Ultimately, Nathan says: “I used to have a very simple life before, I could fall asleep on the sofa but now I have to have a specific set up.”
Support groups for botched op victims
And he is not alone. A growing number of people are suffering botched surgeries resulting in debilitating pain and deteriorating sight.
A number of people are reported to have taken their own lives in the US as a result of botched laser eye treatments.
These include Paul Fitzgerald, who reportedly killed himself in 2018 after suffering debilitating pain for 20 years, writing “since 1996 pain, pain and more pain” in his suicide note.
Jessica Starr, a Fox 2 Detroit meteorologist is also understood to have killed herself just weeks after undergoing surgery as she struggled to cope with the impact of dry eyes.
A variety of online support groups for individuals who have suffered severe issues after undergoing the procedure, with many reportedly being left suicidal, according to various social media groups.
Speaking generally about such support groups, Nathan said: “We all have to fight through the pain on a daily basis.”
He went on to say: “It’s actually killing people – it gives you constant chronic pain, it’s expensive, you lose your career.”
We all have to fight through the pain on a daily basis… It’s actually killing people – it gives you constant chronic pain, it’s expensive, you lose your career.Nathan Cloughlaser eye surgery ‘victim’
To get a practitioner’s perspective on the procedure The Sun spoke to David Allamby, the founder of Focus Clinics who has personally carried out over 25,000 Lasik and PRK procedures.
Rated as the #1 UK clinic on TrustPilot with clients like Denis Van Outen and Brian May, David was eager to reassure patients about how safe the procedure is, while offering advice for those considering it.
David said: “For most people who have had their eyes done they can live the rest of their lives without their glasses.”
While he does acknowledge the risks, David says that advanced technology has made the procedure incredibly safe.
Risks have fallen drastically over time, from an infection rate of 1 in 3000 in the year 2000, to 1 in 20-40,000 in 2025, according to David.
Regarding dry eyes, he believes it is crucial to treat this prior to surgery, something that can often be missed.
He said: “It’s a very routine surgery. The risks happen before the surgery. You need to look at who and how they should have treatment.”
David says he turns down around 10% of patients who aren’t suitable for the procedure.
However, while the industry is well-regulated, he does believe more could be done to reduce risky behaviour.
For example, financially incentivising surgeons to perform more procedures in a day through bonuses and commission is “a moral hazard and should be discouraged”, he claims.
Similarly, not meeting a patient prior to surgery is a concern, and is a step some clinics get around with telephone consultations, David added.
In Nathan’s log of his pre and post op consultations, his second pre-op consultation and post-op consultation in November were both allegedly done over the phone, he claims.
My Beautiful Eyes
After undergoing laser eye surgery in 2011 that left her in “excruciating agony”, Sasha Rodoy was inspired to start the patient advocacy service and campaign group My Beautiful Eyes Foundation the following year.
In a previous interview with The Sun, Sasha said she had been left with dry eye pain that “feels like needles in the eye”.
She suffers from corneal erosion, where the eye’s surface is torn by stuck eyelids when they wake up in the morning, leaving the eye open to infections, ulcers, and extreme pain.
In the years since she has “helped many thousands of people who have been damaged by laser and lens surgery”, including Nathan.
Like Nathan, she also said she was made to sign the T&Cs in front of the receptionist just before her procedure, as she says: “I was so nervous I couldn’t read what I was signing, but told not to worry, it was for their protection.”
After going back to the provider – another high street retailer Optimax – they kept telling her the symptoms would improve over time, she claims.
However, 13 years later Sasha is still struggling with daily pain, and has campaigned tirelessly for the industry to be better regulated, and for patients to be better cared for.
She said: “No one ruins my eyes and gets away with it.”
It led her to launch the website OptimaxRuinedMyLife, and later OpticalExpressRuinedMyLife, which aims to address the misinformation she feels some high street retailers are giving patients.
Her work has had a profound impact on the industry as she has pushed for legislative change.
Sasha said: “People contact me in desperation because there is nowhere else to turn to – I’m able to give them advice on seeking medical and legal help.”
A decade ago, Sasha says it was “almost impossible to get law firms to represent these people because it was a new area and a mine field.”
That shifted significantly with a 2014 lawsuit brought against Optical Express by Stephanie Holloway which resulted in a successful claim for £500,000 in damages.
Sasha played a vital role in the lawsuit, which established a precedent that patients have three years from “date of knowledge” to claim against their provider.
Date of knowledge refers to when a patient is told they have a problem that can’t be fixed, rather than from surgery itself.
In many ways, Sasha’s activism has been an uphill battle, as she said: “John McDonald is the only MP who has shown any support for my work – I’m fighting even with my own MP who is flatly refusing to support me.
She added: “I’m no longer shocked by the number of MPs who don’t care, who won’t support their constituents.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Big Pharma pulls the strings, with countless individuals profiting from this industry – both directly and indirectly.”
Sasha says she holds the General Medical Council “primarily responsible”, adding: “It has utterly failed in its statutory duty as a regulator to protect public health and safety by ensuring doctors are fit to practise.”
However, a spokesperson for the regulator disputed this, telling The Sun it does not set clinical guidance “as this is the role of other healthcare bodies”.
Vision Advocacy group
Across the pond, Paula Cofer said her surgery was “a disaster from day 1” after she underwent the procedure in 2000 in Tampa, Florida.
Her symptoms were similar to many others: dry eyes, uncorrected vision, night vision problems, starbursts and halos.
She now runs the group Vision Advocacy which has over 8,000 members on a Facebook support group.
Users are encouraged to share their own experiences in a safe space, leading her to ban people considering Lasik which can be upsetting for those suffering.
She said: “I’m trying to educate people and focus on the bigger picture – it’s not just about my case.”
Ultimately, she says: “Don’t listen to happy patients – everyone has or had side effects even if its minor.”
She would like to see the industry entirely shut down.
She said: “I have zero faith in the industry to properly inform patients, so I don’t trust them to regulate it.
“If they let me write the consent form nobody would sign it.”
My main message is for people to love their glasses, and accept their eyesight for what it is.
If they don’t like wearing glasses, just buy some funky ones – you wear them all day every day so worth spending a bit extra to ensure you’re happy wearing them.Nathan CloughLaser eye surgery ‘victim’
In an ideal world, Nathan would also like to see the procedure banned entirely.
Not only is it “fundamentally dangerous” but he also says the equipment is “fundamentally incompetent”.
He’d urge people to avoid the procedure and instead learn to love their glasses.
Nathan said: “My main message is for people to love their glasses, and accept their eyesight for what it is.
“If they don’t like wearing glasses, just buy some funky ones – you wear them all day every day so worth spending a bit extra to ensure you’re happy wearing them.”
The has approached the GMC for further comment, as well as Optimax and Optical Express.