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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.

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