Paramedic Emily from Bedford currently working for ECAT which is the telephone triage process, but normally on the road was one of our successful applicants for free laser eye surgery as part of our Thanks a Million campaign.

Emily spoke to us about some of the inconveniences she felt by wearing her glasses or contact lenses, on being during COVID, having to wear masks and she was fed up of her glasses misting up as she attending patients houses.

She also commented on being on holidays with her son and being unable to see him in the distance, and wanted visual freedom to enjoy those moments with her son and their holidays, as she “couldn’t see very far”.

Even on her own hen party she had to request “some audio description because I can’t see what’s going on”. This level of frustration was no doubt getting to Emily and she wanted to “just be able to see properly”.

Emily had seen the Thanks a Million campaign the first time Optical Express launched the campaign and when she saw it on her social again this year she was eager to apply.

Sceptical about being a successful applicant and waiting for the “catch or something”, Emily soon realised that it was as simple and easy as receiving free laser eye surgery with no catch. As she moved through the consultation process Emily still couldn’t “believe that it was going to be free”.

Feeling nervous before going into surgery Emily commended the staff at Optical Express were kind and spoke fondly about them and how they made her feel “at ease”.

24 hours after surgery Emily described the difference in her vision, commenting that “I can see my mum’s alarm clock last night, which I wouldn’t have been able to see before”. Now with better than 20/20 vision Emily is looking forward to no longer worrying about whether her glasses are going to break on the job but also being able to go swimming on holidays with her son.

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.

Since Optical Express was founded 32 years ago, the team are proud to have supported hundreds of humanitarian and philanthropic projects, donating over £33 million and counting to worthwhile causes in the UK and abroad.