Father of China's nuclear submarines recovers after eye surgery

Huang Xuhua, the 93-year-old engineer behind China's first nuclear submarine, has recovered from cataract surgery, reports qq.com.

Huang Xuhua, the 93-year-old engineer behind China's first nuclear submarine, expresses his gratitude to Yao Yufeng. [Photo: Guangming Daily]

"I don't have to use reading glasses any longer. I will continue to work for our country for 20 years," Huang said happily after recovering from the surgery.

The surgery was done by Yao Yufeng, director of the ophthalmology department at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou.

Huang Xuhua, the 93-year-old engineer behind China's first nuclear submarine, takes an eye exam. [Photo: Guangming Daily]

At an award ceremony for national role models held in Beijing in November last year, Yao was told that Huang Xuhua was experiencing blurred vision and had to resort to using a magnifying glass to read.

Yao found that Huang was suffering from severe cataract. On January 2, Huang Xuhua arrived in Hangzhou for surgery to remove the cataract. Thanks to the successful surgery, Huang no longer needs to use a magnifying glass in his daily life.

Huang Xuhua, the 93-year-old engineer behind China's first nuclear submarine, receives an eye test from Yao Yufeng, director of the ophthalmology department at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou. [Photo: Guangming Daily]

The 93-year-old engineer came into the spotlight when President Xi Jinping invited him to sit next to him for a group photo at the award ceremony for national role models.

For more than three decades, Huang was little known outside of the team of researchers he worked with to design China's first nuclear submarine.