Simple eye test saved my life, says tumour survivor

A MOTHER-OF-THREE who credits her optometrist with saving her life is living proof of the value in the advice: “Should have gone to Specsavers.”

Siobhan Beahan underwent emergency surgery to remove a brain tumour less than two weeks after a routine eye test at her local Specsavers in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

Ms Beahan, from Sallins, Co Kildare, was seen on May 6 last by optometrist Aengus Morrin who noticed a swelling back of her eye. “The eye is like an outpatch of the brain and one of the things we have learned is that, if there is something wrong around the brain, for example raised inter-cranial pressure, it can show up in the eye. When Siobhan said she’d been suffering from headaches and a clicking in her ears, I referred her to her GP straightaway,” he said.