Specialising in Critical Care, Paramedic Joe was one of our successful patients to receive free laser eye surgery as part of our ‘Thanks a Million’ campaign. The aim of the campaign is to thank our NHS and Emergency Service Workers for their dedication and hard work.

As a paramedic you are called out to emergencies and wearing glasses really impacted Joe’s role, he even had to leave his glasses at the end of his shift just to ensure he wouldn’t forget to bring them.

Speaking to us about his own experience, Joe had said that he felt “very privileged” to be able to get this incredible offer of free laser eye treatment. Joe had his surgery in the Dartford clinic and commented that the whole process on the day of surgery “lasted no longer than 15 minutes” with the surgery itself lasting even less

One month after surgery and Joe has better than 20|20 vision, saying that “he can’t complain” when talking about it. An outdoorsy guy who loves nature, Joe was delighted to be able to enjoy the outside world without worrying about his glasses.

Joe also mentioned that the impact on his role as a paramedic has been immense, stating that “I won’t have to keep putting my glasses on and off to drive”, allowing him to perform to the best of his ability.

When we asked Joe if he would recommend laser eye surgery at Optical Express, he responded; “Thinking about it is worse than actually getting it done”.

Optical Express first launched the ‘Thanks a Million’ campaign in 2017 and donated £1 million worth of free laser eye surgery to NHS and Emergency Service workers. The campaign since relaunched in 2023 with Optical Express donating another £1 million worth of laser eye surgery. It’s our way of saying a big thank you to the NHS and Emergency Service workers for the great work that they do.