Blind man's long wait after revolutionary operation

James Logan, 45, had bone marrow cells taken from his hip, then reinserted into his spine in early May.

He was told that the earliest signs of improvement in his vision would be after eight weeks - but that it could take anything up to six months.

The eight-week period has now passed, but the Registers of Scotland worker says he is yet to experience any changes.

However, he is still hopeful that his vision will return in some form, he said.

"There's been nothing so far, so it's just a case of waiting for the next six months before I can give up on it.

"In the 24 years previously I've never even had a chance of getting my sight back, so it has been an exciting last year. I just have to keep waiting now."

Mr Logan, who lives in Meadowbank, underwent the 14,000 treatment at the Xcell Center, which is in the Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Cologne, Germany.

It is thought that he would be the first person to have recovered from leper's optic atrophy.

He said: "I can see in my dreams and I keep dreaming that I've got my sight back. I dream so often that it's been successful, then it's disappointing to be back to normal when I wake up."