Bad Eyesight ... Have a stroke?

Malcolm Darby, 70, wore eyeglasses since he was a young child to compensate, he says, for being "blind as a bat." Last year, the Leicestershire, UK man suffered a stroke and now has perfect vision. Physicians operated to remove the blood clot apparently blocking 80 percent of his carotid artery. When Darby woke up, he noticed that his eyesight was just fine without his spectacles. From The Telegraph:

When Dr Darby woke from the anaesthetic he said he thought his vision had become even worse.

He said: "I was still a bit fuzzy from the surgery but reached for my glasses and put them on and I couldn't see a thing.

"I thought, 'oh no' I'm going to have to spend more money on new glasses.

"Then when I took them off I noticed a nurse carrying a newspaper upside down and I could read what it said. It didn't register at first and then suddenly I realised I could see.

It is unclear why the stroke or the operation appears to have caused such a dramatic improvement in Mr Darby's sight but doctors believe there may have been pressure on the optic nerve at the back of the eye which was relieved as the clot was cleared.

Dr Martin Fotherby, consultant stroke physician at Leicester Stroke Centre, said: "It's pretty unusual. It's a mystery."

"Stroke gives 'blind as bat' 70-year-old perfect vision"