This is liberating

Actor Cliff Parisi, of Call the Midwife and Eastenders fame, has had eye surgery to correct his poor vision, which he described as “debilitating” when it comes to his work on screen.

Cliff, 65, who lives in Cambridgeshire, has worn heavy glasses for 20 years due to being heavily short-sighted.  This has all changed since an eye procedure with specialist eye hospital Optegra in the Harley Street District.

He said: “I needed to wear my glasses all day long, for close-up and distance vision.  Without my glasses everything was such a blur, I would not even be safe to chop an onion without them!

“In my career with Call the Midwife, I started off taking reading glasses on set to look at my script then take them off to act – but over the years my distance vision eventually got so bad it was difficult to see on set at all, so my character Fred had to adopt glasses about seven years ago.

“The style of glasses around those days – in keeping with the period of the story – were heavy frames and quite small lenses, so it made it very difficult for the camera to see my eyes at all.  The glasses were constantly obstructing them, which made it harder for me as an actor to connect with the audience and for the camera to capture my emotion and expression.

“Glasses felt like a barrier between me and the audience. As actors, we want to connect deeply, to convey emotion and thought, and our eyes are essential to that. Acting with thick bins over my eyes did not help with that at all!

“I felt almost like I was performing inside a cardboard box. I never got on with contact lenses, so I was left dependent on my big specs, which also made action shots and fast movements more difficult.  This eye procedure takes away all of this hassle, and will really benefit my work so I can’t wait to get back on set.”

Cliff went to Optegra Eye Hospital Central London for a consultation where he was recommended to have lens replacement surgery.

Treated by Optegra ophthalmic consultant surgeon Mr. Javad Moayedi, the procedure has been a great success. Mr. Moayedi said: “Lens replacement surgery is a very similar procedure to cataract surgery – the most commonly performed surgery in the NHS.  The natural lens of the eye is replaced by an artificial lens designed specifically for the individual patient, their prescription and visual needs.

“For Cliff, the priority was to restore his mid to distance vision, so that he could see brilliantly on set, cope with the bright lights, and really connect with his audience.

“The procedure went very well and in fact he now has better than 20:20 vision – which is a first for him!”

In addition to improved day-to-day vision and the huge impact it will have on his career, Cliff is also now looking forward to his first flight with his new eyesight.

He said: “I am an amateur private pilot, which obviously requires very good vision – from looking at instruments on the panel, seeing clearly out of the window, to navigating the aircraft.  To be honest my varifocals would not always work brilliantly for all of this and I never had total confidence when parking the plane!

“But now, with the smooth transition between close-up, mid and distance vision, this will be so much easier so I cannot wait to fly again and enjoy that view with better than 20:20 vision!”

Regarding the procedure itself, Cliff said: “Well you are a bit trepidatious with someone touching your eyes, but the team reassured me so much, and it was very quick – only around 20 minutes for both eyes – and completely painless. It could not have been easier to be honest, it was completely fine.”

After the procedure, Cliff said he could see better almost immediately, even with the protective shields on his eyes, and felt that the next day his vision was already corrected.  He went to a football match a few days later and said: “It was amazing I could actually see all the players, their numbers on their shields and watch the game on the pitch rather than squinting and using the big screens like I used to. I could just relax and enjoy it! My distance vision is better than it has ever been, even with glasses.

“Now I can look forward to life being easier. No glasses frame blocking my peripheral vision when driving, no forgetting my specs when I leave the house and everything being a blur, no glasses falling off when I play with my kids – this is liberating!