by Katie Lamborn

Could you imagine having monthly injections into your eyeball?

That's what Josie Lippitt from Whitstable had to endure before she under went pioneering surgery to restore her sight.

The Mariners View Estate resident had a condition which meant she could only see a grey splodge in her eye, which was caused by abnormal vessels growing, leaking and then scarring the eye.

It started for Josie four years ago when she suddenly lost her sight in one of her eyes.

Her husband took her to A&E where she found out she had wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition if left untreated can lead to blindness.

The 59-year-old was told she would have to have a drug injected into her eye every month.

Josie said: "After a while, I was beginning to feel like a pin cushion."

So, she jumped at the chance to become one of the first people in the country to undergo a new procedure being tested at King's College Hospital in London.

She said: "During the procedure I could feel the probe in my eye, but it wasn't hurting. It's not like seeing a knife or a pointed needle coming at your eye.

"It looked like a little Hoover was going around the inside of my eye picking up all the rubbish that was in there.

"Thankfully, that didn't last for long. Half an hour after the operation I was on my way home with my husband."

Josie says her life has now changed for the better.

"It makes one heck of a difference. I can now book a holiday which is something we haven't been able to do for a few years! And I now feel back in control."