" When I was three years old, I was bitten in my face by an Alsatian . I became a patient of Dr. H Brody and have been for the past 25 years. Originally there was hope for a full recovery, but after a cornea transplant it was discovered that the nerves behind my left eye had been damaged and I would not regain sight in that eye. As I was so young I quickly adjusted, and have never really missed it. After a number of years it was decided to do another cornea transplant for cosmetic reasons. There were a number of small problems after the operation and eventually the cornea was rejected by the eye and yet another one had to be done. This time my eye decided it had had enough, and 'gave in'. What I mean by that is that it had had enough and sunk a bit into the eye socket. No more major operations were advised. 

All of this happened over a period of about 11 years. Because I had been used to it all my life it never bothered me and I had never got teased by other children (my eye looked a bit like a smeared painting). But by the time I was in high school appearance had become a bit more important to me. 

I was then told about prosthetic eyes and lenses. I was referred to a doctor who specialized in making these eyes/lenses. She was the only person in the business at that time and her offices were in Johannesburg. She came down to Cape Town, and I went to see her. It was explained to me that I had a choice. They could remove my entire eye and I give me a prosthetic eye, or make a full lens that would cover my whole eye. I opted for the lens as there was nothing wrong with the muscles behind my eye and it seemed less drastic. She took some photos and a mould and went back to Johannesburg to start on it. A couple of months later she flew down to Cape Town again with the end product. 

It was a strange and alien feeling at first , but with a bit of patience I got used to it. Everyone was very impressed. When eventually this lady married and quit her job, I was referred to Vida Tr?mpelmann. The procedure was slightly different this time. We had quite a few sessions together in which time she fitted and painted etc. The end-product was well worth the time put into it. As I had known nothing else I thought my first lens was perfect, but the second one Vida made was so much more realistic. 

When I meet new people they don't even know there's a difference between my eyes. Often people will even say things like: 'Are you tired? You're eyes seem red'. It does not place any limitations on my lifestyle and therefore also gives my self-image a healthy boost. It is as comfortable as a contact lens, and I even do scuba diving without any problems. Obviously if I stay up for 24 hours my eye does get tired, but that's only normal. It also involves minimal care and I only rarely visit Vida's for a polish. 

My three year old loves to give me my 'ogie' (eye) in the morning, she even wanted to wear it the other day! Thanks to Vida I have a perfectly normal life."