Published: Friday, 13th February, 2009 4:30pm

Tesco saved my eyesight, says George Green father

A FORTUNATE father is looking at life in a new light after a free eye test at a Slough supermarket saved his sight.

Colin Stares dropped into Tesco in Wellington Street to pick up some paracetamol for a headache when the offer caught his attention.

Forty-eight hours later the former window cleaner was undergoing emergency eye surgery to tackle a severe case of Glaucoma - a rare disorder that could have blinded him within weeks.

The 49-year-old from George Green this week visited staff at the pharmacy to thank them for saving his sight in the nick of time.

He said: "I was getting severe headaches and I was in a hurry so I thought I should really quickly go and get some headache tablets. I saw they had a big eye-unit where they scan eyes for free - and at the time I thought I was just saving myself a tenner."

Pharmacist Jameel Zuman found he was suffering from dangerously high eye pressure and immediately packed him off to Prince Charles Eye Unit at the King Edward VII Hospital in Windsor.

Colin, who closed his window cleaning business in 2007 to help raise his two-year old son, Cameron, said he was two or three weeks away from total blindness: "Tesco were brilliant - if they hadn't spotted the problem I might not have been able to see my son grow up."

Doctors found he was suffering from Primary Closed Angle Glaucoma - a condition that is extremely rare among under-50s.

It is caused by the failure of tear ducts to effectively lubricate the eye and can cause eyesight to rapidly deteriorate.

Five months on, Colin has been given the all clear this week and is telling anyone with a headache to check themselves in for an eye-test.