A woman working at an Oxford hospital is thought to be the only healthcare assistant in the UK trained to take out eyes from dead donors.

Mari Loli Robles a senior healthcare assistant who removes eyes for use in transplants

Mari Loli Robles took up her role at the Radcliffe Infirmary, in Woodstock Road, a year ago, to help opthalmologists remove eyes so they can be used to restore other patients' sight.

Because the organs must be retrieved within a day of death, she is now on call 24 hours a day to travel to where a patient has died -- at home, in hospital or residential care.

She said: "Opthalmologists are usually very busy and some eyes were going to waste because they could not be harvested in time.

"I volunteered three years ago, but it took two years to persuade doctors to let me do it and I had to press them quite hard.

"It is a rather gruesome job, but very important and definitely worth it. Many people lose their vision due to chemical burns -- even contact wearers, due to a lack of hygiene, and I see people after they have had eye transplants.

"Sometimes my work can be very distressing. I see donors who are young children and people who were very ill before they died, so it's nice to see something good come out of it."

After they have been retrieved from a donor, eyes are sent to Bristol, where they are prepared and stored ready for recipients.

Doctors can use different parts to treat patients, like the cornea, which is the clear part at the front, and the white of the eye, called the sclera.

Despite the value of her work, Ms Robles has only had 15 donors in a year, as many families will not allow their loved one's eyes to be taken.

She said: "There are many reasons for this. Some people think the eyes are the windows to the soul, other people don't like the idea of someone else seeing life through their eyes."

Although mortuary assistants harvest eyes, Ms Robles believes she is the only healthcare assistant trained to do the job. But while she has set a precedent for her colleagues, none are keen to follow in her footsteps.

She said: "I'm trying to convince them, but not many want to do it. I have trouble finding someone to help me harvest. It's a two-man job, and I have to stay sterile. I can't touch anything once I have my gloves on."

Becky West, donor liaison sister for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said out of 2,000 deaths at the trust last year, only 12 became tissue donors. She said: "Heart valves and skin can be life-saving and the gift of sight through cornea transplants is amazing."

Anyone who wants to join the donor register can call 0845 60 60 400.