My Account
Optometry is in the blood of the new owner of the Mahurangi Vision Centre, Sarah Denny, but her path into the profession has been a circuitous one.
Sarah’s father Brian is an optometrist in Oamaru, as was her grandfather. Her aunty is the practice receptionist and her mother does the visual fields testing.
“From about 14, I knew I wanted to be an optometrist,” she says. “I knew it was a profession you could be proud of because it was about helping people and I’d seen the difference it could make in people’s lives.
“But I also had a passion for snowboarding and the opportunity to travel it afforded me so I packed my board and headed off.”
Sarah did five years of back-to-back winters, in Colorado and Wanaka, before injury forced her to reconsider her options.
A three-year nutrition degree in Otago was followed by a four-year optometry course at Auckland University which she completed with honours.
Sarah says the practice in Warkworth was just what she was looking for, but she is only sorry it came in such sad circumstances.
Illness forced former owner Phil Ansley to retire in November, after 30 years in practice in Warkworth. Mr Ansley died soon after (see obituary p46).
“Phil and Dad were at university together, and I think Phil was pleased he was handing over to someone who had the same ethos. He was very patient-focussed and involved in the community where he could be, and I intend to be the same. I am really pleased that the staff will be staying with us.”
Once established, Sarah would like to be involved in school screening, especially in low decile schools. She says in similar testing in Hawkes Bay, about 40 per cent of the children tested had undiagnosed vision problems.
“Learning issues often stem from vision problems and yet they are often very easy to fix.”
