A HEREFORDSHIRE mayor could have been left blind by a rare tumour spotted during an eye test.

The Mayor of Bromyard is on a mission to make sure local people ‘get seen’ and go for regular eye tests as they could save your life.

Councillor Dr Dee Dunne-Thomas is having ongoing treatment for a rare pituitary tumour that if untreated could have left her permanently blind.

And it was thanks to the expertise of Bromyard Scrivens Opticians and Hearing Care optometrist Tasadiq (Tas) Dad, that Coun Dunne-Thomas had her sight saved.

She is so grateful to the team at the Broad Street branch and has been using her position in the town to educate locals on why regular eye tests are essential to health and wellbeing.

“I tell everyone I meet they must get their eyes tested regularly and to book an appointment should they have any concerns, such as headaches or a sudden change in their vision – which happened to me,” she said.

“I can’t thank the wonderful team at Scrivens, especially Tas, enough. I booked an eye test, despite only having had one a few months earlier, because I couldn’t see properly out of the corner of my right eye.

“Following a test of my peripheral vision he noticed that something wasn’t right. I was given an emergency appointment at Hereford County Hospital who confirmed the tumour, which although benign was extremely serious and I was swiftly sent to the Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment.

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“Thanks to the thorough eye test carried out at Scrivens my vision has been saved. I am still having treatment and in January will undergo six weeks of radiotherapy, but the long term prognosis is positive.”

Tas is equally grateful to have the mayor’s help when it comes to promoting the importance of regular eye tests.

“We often take our sight for granted, despite our eyes being the window to our overall health," he said.

"You can tell so much from an eye test. Thankfully tumours are rare but diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and glaucoma are just some of the health problems that can be detected by an eye examination.”

Scrivens recommends that adults should get their eyes tested every two years, even if they don’t need glasses, and over 70s and children under 16 should have their eyes tested annually.

“As with any health condition, the sooner problems are detected the greater the chance of correcting the problem,” said Tas.

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