The customer was seeing flashing lights and "floaters" in one of his eyes but hadn't been able to get an emergency appointment with his usual optician. When he phoned our store Rachel immediately understood it could be serious, so created an extra appointment to fit him in.
Optician Mo saw the man and spotted a torn retina which, if not quickly addressed, could have led to the man losing his sight. Mo referred the patient to Abergele Eye Hospital, where he underwent an operation. The man's brother called in the day after to thank Mo and Rachel for their actions.
A modest Mo, who's been the store's resident optician for four years having previously worked as a locum, said: "When he came in we saw the tear in his retina. If left untreated, he would have lost his vision, so we kept him as calm as possible while contacting the eye hospital to say what we'd seen and that he would need to be seen by them as soon as possible.
"It was a team effort, and Rachel played a really big part. She knew what to look out for and understood that it sounded serious and picked up the concern in his voice over the phone.
"We're just doing our job, but it's nice to know that it's appreciated and it's great when you get feedback saying thank you.
"Everyone in the store's been very kind about it, and it's great to hear how proud they are."
The store's operations manager Gari Hughes said: "If it wasn't for them he would probably have lost his sight. They managed to treat his retina in the hospital and he's recovering now.
"I'm massively proud of them – and so's the whole store. It's such an amazing thing to help save someone's sight. It was really amazing work."
