Hannah won a Silver Medal at London 2012 and Gold at the 2012 470 World Championships with her teammate Saskia Clarke. They are part of Team GB for Rio 2016. She recently underwent Laser Eye Surgery with AccuVision and talked to us about her experience and its impact on her life.
As a professional sailor, Hannah’s life and work make huge demands on her eyes, and vision. A typical day involves going to the gym for a weights or aerobic session, followed by a 3-4 hour sailing session in the afternoon.
‘At sea, we have to spot the course and the next race mark, which can be up to 1 mile away’
Hannah explained.
‘Before I had laser eye surgery this was very challenging!’.
Hannah found, like so many people dependent on glasses and contact lenses, that she often lost them or didn’t have them when she needed them. Getting face-fulls of salt water several times a day meant wearing glasses was totally impractical.
‘Choosing laser eye surgery was a definite lifestyle and work choice’
explained Hannah.
’I didn't want the hassle of wearing contacts whilst sailing - I often found they dried my eyes out, or fell out when I got a face full of water. I also figured that long term it would work out cheaper to get the eye surgery due to the cost of glasses and contact lenses’
she continued, explaining her motivation to go for Laser Eye Surgery. She was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the process:
‘The procedure is very quick, just a few minutes per eye, but most of it is preparation and only about 10 seconds is the actual surgery. It didn't hurt at all, although I found it slightly nerve wracking! I chose AccuVision because I wanted to feel like my eyes were in the best possible hands. After all you only get one pair of eyes’.
As a sportswoman, a quick recovery time was crucial for Hannah.
‘By the next day, my eyes felt almost back to normal, and within a week my eyes stopped feeling slightly dry. The surgery has absolutely improved my life’ she continues, ‘No more thinking about where my glasses are or worrying about contact lenses. Life is just easier. I would definitely recommend it’.