A man who was quickly going blind has thanked a doctor whose quick diagnosis of a rare condition saved his sight.

Alarmingly, Steve Zetter’s eyesight started to go suddenly while he was driving last year.

Opthalmologists at Southend Hospital initially failed to find out what was happening when 69-year-old Mr Zetter started to lose sight in his right eye.

His condition was brought to the attention of Professor Bhaskar Dasgupta, head of rheumatology and clinical director of research at Southend Hospital, who diagnosed Mr Zetter with a rare condition which would have ultimately blinded him.

Mr Zetter of Woodgrange Drive, Thorpe Bay, was found to have Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis - linked rheumatic conditions that are little known and have been poorly understood in medicine.

He said: “I was just driving one day and started getting flashes in my right eye. It was like it was turning off and on.

“I saw my GP who became alarmed and said with eyes you have to deal with things quickly but they couldn’t pin down what was wrong so they contacted Professor Dasgupta.”

After hearing his symptoms, the professor delayed a morning flight in order to see Mr Zetter.

He said: “The professor called me at home that night and said he would alter his schedule to meet me at 8am. I went to the rheumatology department and they used a doppler scanner which confirmed I had the disease.

“It was a big shock. I thought that was it – I was going blind.”

Mr Zetter was immediately given three days of intravenous steroid treatment followed by oral steroids. He added: “Without them I would have almost certainly gone blind. By then I was blind in my right and it would have gone on to affect my left eye.

“I cannot tell you how grateful I was.”

Now a year later and after an operation Mr Zetter can see with both eyes and is able to drive again.

A member of the Tilbury Freemasons, Mr Zetter’s lodge has donated £1,000 to fund a course of workshops to help people with the conditions.

They can strike separately, but often together and usually affect older people. They cause severe pain and discomfort.

Undiagnosed and untreated GCA can lead to catastrophic sight loss, although this is easily prevented if caught in time.

Mr Zetter has agreed to be present on all three days of the teaching workshop as the event organisers are planning to use doppler scans of his head to demonstrate the condition and help gain a better understanding of the disease. The test uses high-frequency sound waves to measure the amount of blood flow through arteries and veins.

It almost exclusively affects the over-50s and around 15,000 patients in the UK develop this sight-threatening disease each year.