'A tooth for an eye', is not a misspelling of the old Biblical edict, but a medical procedure that restored the vision of Briton Martin.

Builder Jones, 42, lost his sight due to an incident at work 12 years ago, when a vat of molten aluminum exploded in his face, Britain's Daily Mail reported on Friday.

Jones met and married his wife four years ago, without imagining that he could ever see her.

"When I found out there was a chance I would get my sight back the first person I wanted to see was her," he said.

At first, Nottingham doctors attempted to save his sight through the use of stem cells, but they were unsuccessful.

Then, he heard about a pioneering procedure devised by the surgeon Mr. Christopher Liu of the Sussex Eye Clinic in Brighton that was given a chance to restore his sight. This was designed to help patients who have corneal blindness but who are not suitable for traditional corneal transplants.

The procedure involves removing a tiny section of the patient's tooth, reshaping and carving it to grip the manmade lens which is then placed in its core.

It is then implanted inside an eyelid until it becomes covered in living tissue.

The doctors opted to use a segment of one of Jones' teeth, as they feared a plastic implant could be rejected by his body.

A tissue of skin is then taken from inside the cheek of the patient and placed in the eye for two months, where it gradually grows its own blood supply.

The segment of the tooth - a canine - is finally transplanted into the eye socket, and the patch of grafted skin is then partially lifted from the eye and placed over its new secure base.

The last step is for the surgeons to cut a hole in the grafted cornea to allow the light through.

"I feel fantastic getting my sight back," he said. "I can't really describe it - it's beyond words. I was blind for 12 years and when my sight came back everything had changed."

"The doctors took the bandages off and it was like looking through water and then I saw this figure and it was her. She's wonderful and lovely. It was unbelievable to see her for the first time."

"Getting my sight back has changed my life. It is such a precious gift and you don't really appreciate it until it is taken away," he explains.

ZAP/HGH