Mother who lost eyesight after birth of first child describes 'magic' moment she got her vision back after plasma donation
A woman who lost her eyesight following the birth of her first child has said it "felt like magic" when she had her vision restored thanks to a plasma donation.
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Jessica Kent-Hazledine said she feared the worst when her sight started to go in April last year which came about two weeks after having her son.
The 33-year-old dentist woke up one morning with little vision in her left eye, which she initially put down to tiredness.
However, she soon lost vision in her right eye, which left her terrified that she would not see her baby grow up.
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Jessica, from Cornwall, said: "I was a new mum, not getting much sleep, but I thought I should probably get it checked out and the next thing I knew I was having an urgent MRI and blood tests.
"It was all very scary, I was thinking the worst. When my vision went in my right eye, too, I was terrified – I thought I wouldn’t be able to see my baby grow up.
"I had been a mum for two weeks and was faced with the prospect of not being able to see my son again, it was awful."
After trying some other treatments, medics arranged a plasma exchange for Jessica which was carried out by a new service run by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in the South West.
As part of the process, a patient’s plasma, the liquid component of blood that helps transport blood cells and nutrients around the body, is removed from the bloodstream and replaced with donor plasma.
This helped stop the antibodies in her blood from attacking and damaging the protective layer around the nerve fibres in her eyes.
Jessica had five exchanges at Royal Cornwall Hospital but said things had started to improve by the third, and she can now see clearly out of her right eye and has around 75 per cent sight in her left.
She added: "By the fifth exchange, I felt pretty much back to myself, it felt like magic.
"It’s been almost a year now and my sight is so much better – I still have some blurring in half of my left eye but I can look after my son and live an independent life, which I was worried I wouldn’t be able to."
The plasma exchange was performed by NHSBT’s therapeutic apheresis services (TAS), which is working with four hospitals in the region.
Jessica thanked staff and those who donated blood and said: "I feel so lucky that it was arriving in the area just as I needed it – it was amazing and I’m glad that other people will get to benefit, too.
"I’m eternally grateful to those people who donated blood and plasma – it’s only thanks to them that that plasma was available and I’m able to see again.
"I don’t think people realise just how much good donation can do – we all know blood can be used in emergencies but it can also be used to help so many people like me.
"I’d urge absolutely everybody who is eligible to go and give blood or plasma – and thank you to those who already do."
Emma Warner, lead nurse at NHS Blood and Transplant’s TAS in Plymouth, who treated Ms Kent-Hazledine, said: "This vital service is giving patients access to timely, specialist care close to home.
"For new mum Jessica, this meant everything. She was able to receive the treatment she needed as an outpatient, staying by her baby’s side instead of enduring long, stressful journeys or the prospect of being admitted far from home."