A man whose eye was left 'more like a raisin than an eyeball' after a devastating car accident has had his sight partially restored following eight meticulous operations. Chris Hurd, 37, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, sustained the horrific injury when a taxi windscreen shattered during a city break in Budapest, sending a shower of glass into his eye.
The crash also left Mr Hurd with a broken neck, multiple fractures, and severe damage to both eyes. Doctors initially informed him that the injured eye would be lost, making the partial restoration of his vision a remarkable medical achievement. His eyelids were torn away, his iris disappeared, and he had a detached retina.
Thanks to a series of intricate procedures, Mr Hurd's eye was rebuilt. While his good eye 'does all the heavy lifting', he can now use the injured eye for depth and spatial awareness, enabling him to drive. The accident happened in 2023 while he was on holiday with his fiancee Katie Plimmer and friend Gabby Thind.
He was in the front passenger seat of a taxi which was T-boned by a drunk driver in a van who drove through a red light. Mr Hurd passed out and was cut from the car by emergency services before being rushed to hospital. He was put in an induced coma for a number of days and surgeons performed procedures to save his eyelids and remove glass from the eye.
When he was well enough to return to England, Mr Hurd was referred privately to Professor Roger Shimizu Wong, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the London Clinic. Professor Wong performed multiple surgeries, including reattaching the retina, inserting a fake iris, and replacing a filter from a donor. 'Considering how badly damaged it was it is a miracle that I have even got that,' Mr Hurd said.
