Charlie’s Story
Charlie_BrennanBrennan_fam_bermuda

Charlie Brennan was born in April 2009; the birth took some time but was without complications and Charlie seemed like a healthy baby boy.
Charlie was living with his parents, Tamsyn and Hugh in Bermuda and doctors there carried out all the standard tests on Charlie at birth and found nothing to concern them. In the first six to eight weeks Charlie’s parents began to notice that he was not focusing as well as their baby daughter had but they did not think it was anything to be overly concerned about.

Tamsyn took her son to the paediatrician for a routine check-up and mentioned casually that Charlie wasn't really fixating on faces at all. The doctor made an appointment with an ophthalmologist for the following day, where Charlie underwent a series of more investigative tests.The Brennan’s were told that Charlie had cataracts and could not see very well at all; he would need urgent treatment to save his eyesight. The family quickly decided that a move back to the UK would be necessary to get Charlie the expert treatment that he needed.
Tamsyn and Hugh were recommended to seek treatment for Charlie from Mr Nischal who has been dealing with child cataracts for 14 years. "When someone is operating on your tiny baby," says Tamsyn, "trust is a huge issue. But the minute I met Mr Nischal, he was very kind, and he explained everything in layman's terms. He really put us at ease, and I took to him immediately."


Mr Nischal tested the development of Charlie's sight against the normal responses of a child his age and found that already Charlie was below the normal levels of development: "There was no more time to waste." Charlie needed two operations, one on each eye.
It's now months since the operations and Charlie’s sight has improved massively. He now wears prescription glasses which Mr Nischal is confident he will only need for reading by the age of eight and continues to see Mr Nischal every 3 months.
Cataracts at birth affect around one in every 2,500 to 3,000 children, sometimes the cataracts only develop after three months, for example as a reaction to steroids administered to combat bad asthma. Some children develop them aged six or older because they have a family history of the condition – If you see a change in your child's behaviour or notice them becoming clumsier, Mr Nischal advises, the first thing you should do is get their eyes checked.