Russell Turnbull, 38, due to ammonia sprayed into his eye lost most of the vision in his right eye on a late night bus journey home. But thanks to pioneering new stem cell treatment that restored Turnbull’s sight.

The attack had burned and scarred his cornea, his left sight was blurred permanently and pain was there whenever he blinked. A year and a half after receiving the treatment, Turnbull is now pain- free with an improved vision.

Details of the treatment were published in the American journal, Stem Cells.

Researchers informed that the new operation was done cutting away a millimetre squared section of his left eye complete with stem cells and growing it to 400 times that size in the laboratory. The new outer skin of the eye is then stitched onto the badly damaged cornea.

Dr Francisco Figueiredo, Consultant Eye Surgeon at NESCI team, who co-led the project, said, "Corneal cloudiness has been estimated to cause blindness in eight million people worldwide each year. The stem cell treatment option is aimed at total cure rather than symptom relief only."

"This study shows that stem cell research conducted in the laboratory can have a major impact on patients with corneal disease," Dr Sajjad Ahmad, who developed the Newcastle method for culturing limbal stem cells, said.

Every year corneal cloudiness caused blindness in eight million people which was about 10 per cent of total blindness worldwide, Dr Figueiredo said.