Unconventional Healing: Placenta Helps Restore Vision
In February 2023, Paul Laskey, a 43-year-old plumbing and heating engineer from Newcastle, suffered a severe acid attack while defending his son from a robbery. The assailant, Robbie Scott, sprayed battery acid into Laskey’s face, causing extensive damage to his left eye, including the melting of both inner and outer corneal layers. This assault led to significant vision loss and posed a threat to the structural integrity of his eye.
To address the damage, Laskey underwent multiple surgical interventions at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. These included two emergency corneal transplants and three amniotic membrane grafts. The amniotic grafts, derived from the inner lining of donated placentas, played a crucial role in stabilizing his eye and preventing further deterioration. This innovative treatment provided a protective layer, facilitating healing and paving the way for potential future vision restoration procedures, such as stem cell transplants.
Expressing profound gratitude, Laskey acknowledged the significance of placenta donations in medical treatments, noting how they can save and improve lives. Claire Price, National Retrieval Manager at NHS Blood and Transplant’s Tissue and Eye Services, highlighted the importance of such donations, emphasizing that while placentas are typically discarded after childbirth, they can be repurposed to create grafts essential for treating severe eye injuries.
The assailant, Robbie Scott, was subsequently sentenced to 11 years in prison for the attack. Laskey’s experience underscores the critical role of medical innovations and the generosity of donors in aiding recovery from traumatic injuries.