KEY POINTS:
I'm determined to get fitter, so my day starts at 6am with a run or visit to the gym. In a typical morning I'll see 20 to 30 patients with a variety of eye problems. My afternoons for several days a week are spent in the operating theatre, where I do between 10 and 12 cataract operations, so those are very busy afternoons.
My father was a professor of medicine, so a medical career seemed like the natural choice for me. As long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a surgeon. It's the delicate nature of eye surgery and the extensive use of the latest technology that really appealed to me. Early on I recognised just how rapidly this field was developing and wanted to be a part of it.
When I tell people what I do for a living, most are confused and wonder how anyone could specialise in something as small as an eye. They usually think I must be an optometrist. Once you get around the difference (optometrists prescribe glasses and contacts lenses and provide screening for common eye diseases, ophthalmologists treat eye disease and perform eye surgery) then I often get a question about their own eyes.
During the Round The Bays run one year a runner saw the logo on my T-shirt and came over and had questions about refractive eye laser surgery answered while we ran.
Cataracts are surprisingly common with up to 40 per cent of 55 to 65 year old New Zealanders having significant problems. Most people will develop a cataract sometime in their lifetime. However, people tend to ignore them as they develop slowly and initially cause only minor problems.
My nieces and nephews think I look like Shrek. I am not sure if this is because they think I am big and ugly but loveable.
I have a very sweet tooth and will always have bread and butter pudding if it's on the menu.
The look of surprise on a young Down Syndrome patient's face when we took the eye patch off after cataract surgery and he realised he could see for the first time in many years was one of the best moments of my career. Then as he was leaving, listening to him describe in a loud voice each picture hanging in the corridor outside my room ...
My wife is still waiting for a wedding ring and we have been married eight years.
I played provincial rugby for Auckland and then Waikato. While playing for Waikato we won the Ranfurly Shield from my old team, Auckland.
I wish the fashion police would ban lip enhancements.
I can't remember the last time I cried, but it's depressing to think about the unmentionable abuse that the Kahui twins and many other children have suffered and society's inability to address this issue or bring those responsible to account. o Dr Nick Mantell has performed thousands of cataract operations and has four practices in Auckland. This month the NZ Association of Optometrists is running a Save Our Sight campaign, focusing on people living with vision impairment.
