Bay Harbour: September 25, 2019
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PAGE 10 BAY HARBOUR<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>25</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />
News<br />
Surgeon thanked with book<br />
• By Claire Booker<br />
JACKIE SMART couldn’t tell<br />
the difference between shampoo<br />
and conditioner in the shower<br />
without her glasses, now she<br />
can see the horizon without any<br />
trouble.<br />
As a token of her and husband<br />
Peter Smart’s gratitude, they<br />
gifted an 88-year-old book on<br />
ophthalmology to Mrs Smart’s<br />
surgeon at St George’s Hospital,<br />
Merivale Dr Paul Baddeley.<br />
The Akaroa couple were<br />
delighted with the results of the<br />
surgery, and Mrs Smart no longer<br />
wears the thick spectacles she<br />
once needed.<br />
“It’s a miracle, I couldn’t see<br />
anything at all. It’s changed my<br />
life, you know,” she said.<br />
The book was made before it<br />
was possible to photograph the<br />
back of the eye, so all the images<br />
are hand-drawn.<br />
Dr Baddeley has been an<br />
ophthalmologist for 17 years, and<br />
he said the gift of the book was a<br />
very nice thought.<br />
“Patients usually send a letter<br />
of thanks rather than gifts,<br />
but it’s extremely nice of the<br />
Smart’s to gift this to myself and<br />
to St George’s. Myself and my<br />
colleagues will treasure it and<br />
keep it in our department,” he<br />
said.<br />
The treatment for Mrs Smart’s<br />
THANK YOU: Peter and Jackie Smart gifted an 88-year-old<br />
book to Mrs Smart’s ophthalmologist Dr Paul Baddeley (right)<br />
as a token of their gratitude. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN<br />
case was a similar approach to<br />
cataract surgery after a report<br />
found some forms of glaucoma<br />
could be treated this way, without<br />
as many risks as laser treatment.<br />
“I think it’s a wonderful,<br />
beautiful gift for our department,<br />
and it just reminds us that<br />
there were times before, when<br />
photographing the back of the<br />
eye was near impossible. It’s just<br />
a lovely thing for the Smarts to<br />
gift,” Dr Baddeley said.<br />
Mr Smart, who is a retired<br />
doctor, used to receive gifts<br />
when he worked as a general<br />
practitioner and has been<br />
collecting old medical equipment<br />
over many years.<br />
“The reason for giving the<br />
book to Paul is as a token of our<br />
appreciation for his kindness and<br />
professional services and because<br />
Jackie and I are so delighted with<br />
the results of his surgery,” Dr<br />
Smart said.<br />
Weeds invade river<br />
• By Matt Slaughter<br />
INVASIVE WEEDS are posing<br />
a threat to the Heathcote River.<br />
The city council is supporting<br />
the need to act urgently<br />
to remove invasive weed species<br />
from the river and other<br />
Christchurch waterways.<br />
City council land drainage<br />
manager Keith Davison said invasive<br />
weeds, including hanging<br />
sedge, reed sweet grass, yellow<br />
flag iris and reed canary grass,<br />
have been an issue in the river<br />
“for a very long time” and the<br />
problem has got worse.<br />
“In recent years more aggressive<br />
weeds have arrived<br />
that pose ever greater threats/<br />
challenges. These weeds rapidly<br />
colonise the margins, displacing<br />
native and exotic vegetation.<br />
They may also grow into the<br />
river, forming large rafts of<br />
vegetation clogging the river,”<br />
he said.<br />
Mr Davison said if these sorts<br />
of weeds are just left “the river<br />
would likely be encroached by<br />
the fast-spreading weeds and<br />
larger plant species with native<br />
plants being forced out.<br />
“This could impact on the<br />
river by capturing sediment and<br />
diverting flows,” he said.<br />
Spreydon-Cashmere Community<br />
Board member Helene<br />
Mautner said invasive weeds are<br />
so widespread they may not be<br />
THREAT: Invasive weeds in<br />
the Heathcote River and on<br />
its banks are spreading and<br />
damaging it.<br />
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN <br />
able to be completely removed.<br />
“I think there are some weeds<br />
that are so well established now<br />
that it might not be possible<br />
even to remove them at this<br />
stage.”<br />
She said something has to be<br />
done now to at least stop the issue<br />
from getting worse.<br />
Mr Davison said city council<br />
staff have a strategy to address<br />
the weed problem but how<br />
much this will cost is “yet to be<br />
determined.’’<br />
“Plans are in place to control<br />
the worst weeds through a<br />
combination of herbicide and<br />
physical removal as part of<br />
council’s Heathcote River bank<br />
stabilisation and sediment<br />
removal project,” Mr Davison<br />
said.