To restore his eye and preserve his sight after an acid attack, a man utilized a woman's placenta to reconstruct it.

 

A donated placenta saved an acid attack victim's eye.


Paul Laskey's face was squirted with battery acid after his 16-year-old son was attacked with a knife.


The attack caused his left eye to melt, but a 'life-changing' medical procedure with a donated placenta saved his vision.


On February 5th, 2023, the plumber and heating engineer was attacked by corrosive acid while trying to apprehend his son's mugger in Newcastle.

‘I couldn’t see and couldn’t breathe. It took my breathe away with how strong it was. I felt burning on my face.” He told Metro UK.

     

    ‘I wasn’t in a lot of pain because it had burnt through all the nerves.’

 


Paul stated: 'It was terrible.' For the first six months, I was not working. It was the only thing on my mind. It was truly awful.

    ‘I immediately worried that I would lose it completely, which would have upended my life.
    ‘I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to work, drive, play football with or go to the cinema with my kids, like I love to do.’

Paul needed intensive care and in a year, he received two cornea transplants from donated eyes, as well as essential treatment from a donated placenta.


The placenta was used by doctors to obtain an amnion graft that comes from the inner lining of the organ.


The sticky and almost transparent substance seals itself against the eye, which helps to heal surface damage and cover nerve endings.


To prevent his sight from deteriorating and stabilize his eye, the 43-year-old underwent three procedures, including the first one a week after the attack.
 

 

The success of these amnion grafts has led doctors to plan further stem cell treatment to restore more sight to Paul in his left eye.

 

 

Professor Francisco Figueiredo, a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Newcastle Eye Centre, Royal Victoria Infirmary, who treated Paul for his injuries, said:

 

 

    ‘It is safe to say that these grafts have helped to save the vision Paul still has – and allowed us to move towards further treatment to restore his lost sight.’

     


    ‘It is incredible to think that this is possible due to the generosity of a mother, donating the organ that she has grown to help grow her child. It really is remarkable.’

 

 

Paul, who was unaware of his sight-saving surgeries being made possible by a placenta only recently, added: '

     

    I’m so grateful that the amnion graft has helped to keep the sight that I do have and prepare my eye so that hopefully I can get my full range of vision back.
    ‘I’m so thankful to the mother who chose to donate her placenta to help people like me who are at risk of losing their sight completely.
    ‘It’s incredible to know that a new life can help so many people in such a profound way, using something that’s usually thrown away.’
     

 

Oxygen and nutrients are provided to the fetus by the placenta, which forms inside the womb.