Graham Butteriss, 71, discovered there was a potentially serious cause to his intermittent blurred vision during a check-up.
The part-time caretaker was told by his GP to see an optician in August when his eye became blurry whenever he bent down or lifted anything heavy.
And after completing scans, West Malling Opticians found a 70 to 80 per cent blockage in a neck artery.
Mr Butteriss, who lives in Cardinal Close, had probably already had two minor strokes and was waiting for emergency surgery to clear the blockage on his artery. He was lucky it was not worse.
Senior Optometrist Linzi Bacon, who spotted the danger, said: “I knew when I examined him that there was something serious that needed investigating straight away. I am delighted that my colleagues in the hospitals were able to act so quickly solve the problem.”
