A woman who had been blind for 25 years awoke in hospital after suffering a heart attack and found that she could see again. Doctors have been unable to explain what happened, but Mrs Urch, 74, was happy yesterday to put it down to a "miracle".

She said: "When I first came round I just opened my eyes and shouted, 'I can see, I can see.' When I looked in the mirror I said, 'Oh.' I said to [her husband] Eric, 'You've got older haven't you?' But I thought, 'I'm old myself, my husband must be too.'

Mrs Urch had been unable to see her five children properly since they were young adults and, for the first time, was able to look at her 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She said that despite suffering from glaucoma, doctors did not think this was why her sight went, although they were unable to pinpoint the reason.

"They did a lot of tests and said it was a genetic condition," said Mrs Urch. "Other members of my family have lost their sight, including my grandmother and two aunts. "I had lots of treatments at the hospital but eventually went completely blind. It was totally different when my sight returned. It happened immediately and I could see everything straight away."

Martin Breen, consultant cardiologist at the Walgrave Hospital, said: "I am not able to give a medical explanation."