A PENDLE grandmother today spoke of her joy at being given back the gift of sight.

Trawden pensioner Bernie Edmondson has become a mobile specialist cataract unit's latest success story after hers was the 1,500th operation.

Now she is revelling in doing everyday chores that most folk take for granted, thanks to having cataract operations in both eyes.

And it's a triple celebration this week for the family as husband Walter and their twin children John and Julie enjoyed their birthday on the same day.

Bernie's eyes were done 'at the double' by the South African Netcare mobile team, part funded by Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust.

And Bernie celebrated the return of her faltering eyesight by getting back on the sewing trail, making and mending clothes for her six grandchildren.

All the family were able to celebrate following the operation as the family gathered yesterday for Walter's 75th Birthday while John and Julie chalked up their 44th birthdays.

John, his children Jack, eight, and Laura, six, along with Julie and her children Amy, seven, and Ella, four, plus the Edmondson's other daughter Alison, 40, and her own twins Harry and Noah, both aged four, all took part in the celebrations.

Bernie, 69, of Lachman Road, said: "Having my eyesight back in good order is a real bonus. I was struggling to see the TV properly, let alone do my sewing.

I've worn glasses since I was 13 but last year the cataracts developed very quickly and I was struggling.

"My optician recommended me to have cataract operations on both eyes but at the time I would have had to wait about four or five months to have the operations done in hospital.

"I was told it would be much quicker to have them done by the South African team at the mobile cataract unit, when it came to the Rossendale Hospital site.

"I thought to myself: 'I'll go for it.' I went to have an examination one week and had the first one done the next week, and I could see straight away with that eye.

"Three months later, I had the other one done, and I can now see TV properly, read the newspaper, do the crossword each day, and do my sewing, mending and alterations to my grandchildren's clothes."

Walter, a former textile draughtsman and engineer who started out at W B White and Sons in Colne, is delighted that his wife can see properly again.

He said: "The operations have given her back the quality of life. It's marvellous. We have a close-knit family who live around us, and I think we have all benefited from Bernie getting back her vision."

The PCT say that the mobile units success means waiting lists are coming down giving more people the chance to benefit from earlier treatment.

The maximum wait in Lancashire for cataract surgery is three months from the first outpatient appointment with the aim over the next four years to achieve 7,000 operations.