English amateur Craig Hinton has made it into next month's Open Championship two years after suffering a short spell of blindness.
Hinton won the 36-hole final qualifying event at Royal Cinque Ports last night despite bogeying his final two holes.
He said: "I was at an airport with the England squad in Spain, but was so ill I was taken to hospital and went blind for a brief time.
"I was able to get back to England a few days later, but it took eight months to get properly well again.
"Then this February during the Spanish Amateur I had headaches and was throwing up.
"I was in intensive care for a week. It was myopericarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart.
"The doctors said it would take six months to a year to get over it fully, but after three months I started playing again and in the first event back I was ninth at the Welsh Amateur.
"After everything I have been through it is unbelievable to be in The Open - it is hard to take in."
The Oxfordshire player finished one in front of four players who, because of darkness, had to return on Wednesday morning for a play-off to decide which two went through.
The quartet were Aberdeen's former European Tour Rookie of the Year Scott Henderson and English trio Andrew Johnston, Simon Lilly and amateur Alex Christie.
There was also sudden death at Rye between Londoner Mark Laskey and Dutchman Inder van Weerelt to see who joined winner Tom Lewis - an amateur from Sir Nick Faldo's home club Welwyn Garden City - and Adam Wootton.
The second round had still to be completed at Littlestone following Tuesday's long thunderstorm delay, but it was all decided without a play-off at Prince's.
The three to survive there were Simon Edwards - last at St Andrews last year after a second-round 86 - Thomas Shadbolt and local player Francis McGuirk.
McGuirk lives five minutes from Sandwich and said: "I missed out by a shot a couple of years back, so it's great. For it to be in my home town is extra special, but I would imagine my phone will be red hot with people wanting tickets now."
Among those to miss out were New Zealand's 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell and former Ryder Cup pair Paul Broadhurst and Jarmo Sandelin.
Campbell and Broadhurst headed straight off to the Alstom Open de France, where a top-five finish could still get them into The Open.
