A Huddersfield eye surgery patient has become one of the first in the UK to benefit from a revolutionary technique.

Farnley Tyas resident Joan Greenwood has become the first person in the north to benefit from a new method of cornea transplant at Calderdale Royal Hospital.

Joan went under the knife of consultant opthalmologist Fayyaz Musa, who is thought to be one of only two UK eye surgeons and just 12 worldwide, currently practising a pioneering method.

The innovative technique, called descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), sees a single layer of cells the width of one tenth of a human hair transplanted onto the eye.

It means faster recovery times and better eyesight than the traditional method, which involves a bigger graft.

Mr Musa, who hails from Bradley, spent four months at the Netherlands Institute of Innovative Ocular Surgery learning the delicate transplant technique.

He said: “It was a mixture of excitement and nervousness doing it on my own for the first time.

“It takes a while – it’s a very fiddly procedure. There’s a lot of steps that you need to get spot on for it to work.

“I’ve been practising on patients in Holland but I had a team of technicians to support me there.

“Over here I had to do it all by myself.”

Joan said she was really pleased with her operation and the speed at which she was able to get home.

The 76-year-old, who has always been active and was once a junior high jump champion, was keen to get back to walking.

“Every day my sight is improving,” she said. “I was amazed at how quickly I recovered and how quickly I was able to go home.

“I love walking and I have been able to get out and do some walking since I had the operation.”

Mr Musa said he was now hoping the surgery would become more popular as it offered quicker healing time, better quality vision and reduced the risk of graft rejection, which is present in any transplant, to less than 1%.”

He added: “The department I work in is full of great surgeons and it’s great to be able to add to that with this new technique.

“It uses basic instruments, there’s no fancy lasers so it’s better and the equipment is cheaper!”