SCHOOLGIRL Samantha Meehan was glad she went to Specsavers after an eagle-eyed optician saved her life.
Doctors thought the 16-year-old’s severe headaches were caused by the stress of her GCSEs.
But a trip to the optician revealed a deadly brain condition that would have left her blind within days if left untreated, and could even have killed her.
Sam, from St Helens, Merseyside, was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery to relieve fluid on her brain. It could have damaged the brainstem, which is responsible for eyesight, regulating breathing and heartbeat.
Sam said: “I started to notice I was having problems seeing clearly. I thought I might just need glasses.
“I hadn’t bothered to get regular eye tests in the past because I had good eyesight. The opticians were brilliant. I owe them my life, quite literally. ”
Sam is now preparing for her exams back at home, but because she needs six months to recover from the surgery, she will not be able to sit them with her pals.
Mum Wendy, 45, whose husband Bernie, 57, suddenly went blind last year with a different brain condition, said: “I just thought it was the stress of the exams coming up and being a teenager.”
Jennie Gornall, 24, of Specsavers in St Helens said: “As soon as I began to examine Samantha’s eyes I knew immediately something was wrong. We were only too happy to help.”
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