A woman who has been battling glaucoma and the loss of her peripheral vision went against the odds to continue owning her Specsavers store.

Pragna Raghwani, the store director of the Specsavers on High Street, Chipping Barnet, had to deal with blurred vision and her glaucoma while she took charge of her branch store.

She is now sharing her story just before World Glaucoma Week (March 8 to 14) to share her inspirational story.

In 2010 she had some blurriness in her vision and immediately saw one of her optometrists in store. She was referred to Moorfields hospital and was diagnosed with glaucoma having lost 30 per cent of her vision.

After two operations and also developing cataracts, she struggled with some depression due to the vision loss.

However, she managed to bounce back and although she has had to change her hours due to night blindness, she has been able to continue her role as director of Specsavers in Barnet.

She said: “After my diagnosis I took a different perspective. I took on more roles within the community as well as ensuring that I have a good work, life balance so that I can spend time with my kids. I take pride in investing time in my kids as well as my business as they are the future.”

Even with her limited vision, the optician is still able to do contact lens clinics effectively and serve all her patients with specialised contact lens care for adults as well as children.

Five years after developing glaucoma, she took part in a midnight walk for Cancer Research with the support of her friends and family.

She says: “It was a really daunting experience given that I am not able to see at night, but I was so proud to do it.

“Don’t let anything stop you doing what you want whether that’s a condition, gender or anything else.”

Pragna says that she has great support around her, not only from her family but also from her colleagues.

She added: “My secret to running a successful business is creating a motivated team. If I keep my staff happy then my customers will be happy which will encourage them to come back regularly.”