As an active person, Aran Blackmore never noticed any problems with his eyesight in his youth. Vision only became a problem for Aran in his twenties. “When I started being unable to see things my friends and family could see easily, I knew I had a problem. That’s when it struck me hard that I needed to take drastic action about my eyesight,” he says. When Aran went to an optometrist to get his deteriorating eyesight checked out, he discovered that he was short-sighted and had astigmatism in both eyes.

Aran had initially thought that laser eye surgery was not suitable for him, but later took a chance to see for himself after hearing about iLASIK. “I thought I may as well give them a call – and discovered that I was eligible to have iLASIK, as it treats near and farsightedness, including astigmatism, so I jumped at the chance to book an appointment that very day.”

For Aran, the timing of the surgery was crucial. “I was getting married in a few weeks and then going on a dream honeymoon we were both looking forward to. It was important that the surgery wasn’t going to affect that,” he says. “We were off to the Cook Islands, so naturally I wanted to be able to swim, snorkel and enjoy the sunshine.” Happily for Aran, everything fitted in because of the fast turnaround times for iLASIK surgery.

The procedure lasted only twenty minutes for Aran. When he returned the next day, he says he “was left with what was basically 20/20 vision”. “I was absolutely blown away. I could drive home myself right then!” he adds. “Only two checkups post-honeymoon and the entire iLASIK procedure was complete.”

“Dr Ring and Jasha were true professionals and made the whole experience painless and absolutely fuss-free and they were very accommodating,” says Aran. “From a financial point of view, getting iLASIK done at a younger age was a smart move. Think of it as a capital outlay initially. But after that initial investment, I don’t have to worry about buying contacts for the next 30, 40, or 50 years.”

Severely longsighted, Jennifer Aston wore glasses from the age of two. “My parents used to tie them to me because I was always pulling them off,” she says. “I was known as ‘four eyes’ at school.” At 16 she was determined to have contact lenses even though her optometrist at the time informed her that because her eyesight was so poor, the contacts would have to be thick and could cause damage to her eyes.

She was given hard contact lenses, which were the best lenses for her at the time. In the years she wore them from age 16 to 61, she scratched her cornea on many occasions and could not wear contacts for some time while reverting to glasses. To add insult to injury, she had to recuperate from every corneal scratch in a dark room for the first 24 hours. Because she and her husband are avid travellers, it also used to be a mission to take contacts everywhere she went, packing all the equipment in lots of little plastic bags.

On her first visit to Dr Ring, he recommended ReSTOR intraocular lenses, where Jennifer’s natural lens would be taken out and an artificial one put in, removing her lifelong dependence on contacts. Her new ReSTOR lenses have made the crucial difference in many aspects of her life. Jennifer cannot help but extol the life-changing nature of her surgery. “Even now, I wake up in the morning and I think, wow, I can see!”

“It was lovely to deal with Dr Ring and Jasha’s team,” says Jennifer. “You feel as though you are not going to be rushed into anything. It’s not simply about performing the surgery: they will only do it if it is right for the particular patient. They were very professional.

“I had absolutely terrible eyesight – if they can fix my eyes, they can fix almost anyone’s.”

"Over 12 months ago now, I had eye surgery at the Eye Institute and everyday I say "thank you". I enjoy having such wonderful eyesight - I can see the stars so easily now (I walk my dogs very early every day), and my favourite sport - speedway - means I can see whats happening at the other end of the track - just two things, but everyday I appreciate just what the eye surgery has given me. Just being able to recognise people in the supermarket and at work (I'm a receptionist) is fantastic.

I say to everybody I know - go and have an assessment!

So thank you Dr Ring and your Team."

- Jacque Kendall

Jacque Kendall:

"Over 12 months ago now, I had eye surgery at the Eye Institute and everyday I say "thank you". I enjoy having such wonderful eyesight - I can see the stars so easily now (I walk my dogs very early every day), and my favourite sport - speedway - means I can see whats happening at the other end of the track - just two things, but everyday I appreciate just what the eye surgery has given me. Just being able to recognise people in the supermarket and at work (I'm a receptionist) is fantastic.

I say to everybody I know - go and have an assessment!

So thank you Dr Ring and your Team."

Aran Blackmore:

As an active person, Aran Blackmore never noticed any problems with his eyesight in his youth. Vision only became a problem for Aran in his twenties. “When I started being unable to see things my friends and family could see easily, I knew I had a problem. That’s when it struck me hard that I needed to take drastic action about my eyesight,” he says. When Aran went to an optometrist to get his deteriorating eyesight checked out, he discovered that he was short-sighted and had astigmatism in both eyes.

Aran had initially thought that laser eye surgery was not suitable for him, but later took a chance to see for himself after hearing about iLASIK. “I thought I may as well give them a call – and discovered that I was eligible to have iLASIK, as it treats near and farsightedness, including astigmatism, so I jumped at the chance to book an appointment that very day.”

For Aran, the timing of the surgery was crucial. “I was getting married in a few weeks and then going on a dream honeymoon we were both looking forward to. It was important that the surgery wasn’t going to affect that,” he says. “We were off to the Cook Islands, so naturally I wanted to be able to swim, snorkel and enjoy the sunshine.” Happily for Aran, everything fitted in because of the fast turnaround times for iLASIK surgery.

The procedure lasted only twenty minutes for Aran. When he returned the next day, he says he “was left with what was basically 20/20 vision”. “I was absolutely blown away. I could drive home myself right then!” he adds. “Only two checkups post-honeymoon and the entire iLASIK procedure was complete.”

“Dr Ring and Jasha were true professionals and made the whole experience painless and absolutely fuss-free and they were very accommodating,” says Aran. “From a financial point of view, getting iLASIK done at a younger age was a smart move. Think of it as a capital outlay initially. But after that initial investment, I don’t have to worry about buying contacts for the next 30, 40, or 50 years.”

Jennifer Aston:

Severely longsighted, Jennifer Aston wore glasses from the age of two. “My parents used to tie them to me because I was always pulling them off,” she says. “I was known as ‘four eyes’ at school.” At 16 she was determined to have contact lenses even though her optometrist at the time informed her that because her eyesight was so poor, the contacts would have to be thick and could cause damage to her eyes.

She was given hard contact lenses, which were the best lenses for her at the time. In the years she wore them from age 16 to 61, she scratched her cornea on many occasions and could not wear contacts for some time while reverting to glasses. To add insult to injury, she had to recuperate from every corneal scratch in a dark room for the first 24 hours. Because she and her husband are avid travellers, it also used to be a mission to take contacts everywhere she went, packing all the equipment in lots of little plastic bags.

On her first visit to Dr Ring, he recommended ReSTOR intraocular lenses, where Jennifer’s natural lens would be taken out and an artificial one put in, removing her lifelong dependence on contacts. Her new ReSTOR lenses have made the crucial difference in many aspects of her life. Jennifer cannot help but extol the life-changing nature of her surgery. “Even now, I wake up in the morning and I think, wow, I can see!”

“It was lovely to deal with Dr Ring and Jasha’s team,” says Jennifer. “You feel as though you are not going to be rushed into anything. It’s not simply about performing the surgery: they will only do it if it is right for the particular patient. They were very professional.

“I had absolutely terrible eyesight – if they can fix my eyes, they can fix almost anyone’s.”