Blinded by an explosion two years ago Bob McNichol was told he may never see again, but by the aid of his son's tooth McNichol had his vision restored.

Bob McNichol, 57, from County Mayo in the west of the country, lost his sight in a freak accident when red-hot liquid aluminium exploded at a re-cycling business in November 2005.

"I thought that I was going to be blind for the rest of my life," McNichol told RTE state radio.

After doctors in Ireland said there was nothing more they could do, McNichol heard about a miracle operation called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) being performed by Dr Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton in England.

The technique, pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, involves creating a support for an artificial cornea from the patient's own tooth and the surrounding bone.

This is robogeek's wife writing. You are all much smarter then me, especially when it comes to technology. I'm currently making robogeek nuts, begging for a talking MP3 player. I'm sure I saw one online somewhere, but can't find anything now. Have any of you found one, or plans to make one? I need it to be a talking MP3 player because I'm blind. Don't know if my Hubby mentioned it or not. Thanks for any assisstance.