A news story in the Daily Mail revealed regular eye tests can save lives. 

A young sales assistant was stunned after a routine eye test revealed she had a rare brain blood clot that could kill her at any time.

Kirsty Old, 22, only discovered she had the one-in-a-million blockage when she visited her family opticians suffering from migraines.

Doctors realised the sales assistant suffered from a rare blood clotting disorder that could strike at any time and immediately gave her the blood thinning drug Warfarin to get rid of mass that was clogging up the vein in her brain.

The clot could have caused a stroke, severe bleeding, blindness or even killed her if it hadn’t been treated.

Miss Old, from Shrewbury, said: ‘You could say I was spec saved! It was a very scary time. I have to take drugs now for the next year and maybe longer but the whole process has literally saved my life.

‘I’m just so thankful I went to the opticians for what I thought was a routine eyesight problem.’

www.hsf.eu.co.uk