Sophie Hutchinson

I literally got on my knees and prayed.

A pea-sized drop of gel is saving people's sight.

A common and inexpensive substance repurposed with astonishing success.

It's incredible.

Nicky Guy's eyes had such low pressure, known as hypotony, that the structure, the eyeballs, were collapsing.

It led to blindness in her right eye and then her left eye started rapidly deteriorating.

Her left eye could still technically see if the eyeball around it could be re-inflated, but the commonly used filler, a silicon oil, is hard to see through.

And then came the idea of using the clear gel HPMC used for decades during other types of eye surgery.

Nikki is one of seven out of an initial eight patients treated monthly with gel injections who've seen dramatic improvements.

It's hoped the gel will become the standard treatment with hundreds, if not thousands, eventually benefiting.

I literally got on my knees and prayed.