Police Constable Matthew was eager to move up the ranks but found his poor vision was holding him back due to the strict vision standards that are required.

Being a successful candidate of our Thanks a Million campaign and receiving free laser eye surgery, Matthew was elated to be “able to wake up and just see”. Speaking to us only 24-hours after his surgery he commented that it was just “really, really special” to be able to see without glasses or contact lenses.

Working in the police force for 8 years, Matthew found his vision was hindering his ability to work effectively, saying that “contact lenses falling out when you’re on the job is a big issue”.

Matthew had his surgery in our state of the art clinic in Manchester St John Street clinic, and describing his time in the clinic he commented that the staff were “all really friendly” and “made sure that I felt comfortable while I was here”.

We asked Matthew, how having laser eye surgery will impact his life and he said “it will just make it a lot easier to be able to go through 10/12 hour shifts without having to worry about my contacts lenses or glasses.”

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.