FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday May 11, 2010, Britain's then Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces his resignation, outside No.10 Downing Street in London. Brown describes in his new memoir revealed Monday Oct. 30, 2017, how he feared he was going blind while in power, saying he woke up one morning and could not see properly out of his one good eye forcing him to extemporise and abandon a prepared speech. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, FILE)
October 30, 2017 - 5:05 AM
LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown describes in his new memoir how he feared he was going blind while in power.
Brown says he woke up one morning in Downing Street in 2009 and couldn't see properly out of his one good eye.
He had lost the vision in his left eye as a teenager in a rugby injury.
Brown says in "My Life, Our Time" that he was unable to read a speech at an appearance that morning and instead spoke off the cuff before seeking emergency treatment at London's Moorfields Eye Hospital.
He was told he needed urgent surgery for a torn retina, but decided against surgery after receiving a second opinion.
Brown says he feels "lucky beyond words" that his retina continues to function.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017