Raj and his wife, Ramya, acted quickly and took Priyansh to a local doctor who diagnosed him with a tumor. After more consultations, the family was advised to get treatment at the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer at the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India.

The Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer was made possible by the generous gift of an anonymous Canadian family, and through our longtime collaboration with the renowned eye hospital. Since 2015, the Institute has provided comprehensive treatment for the entire range of ophthalmic tumors in both adults and children. It is one of just a handful of centres in the world that specializes in this type of treatment.

Once he arrived at the Institute, Pryiansh was examined by an ophthalmologist who diagnosed him with fourth-grade retinoblastoma, a severe form of eye cancer that largely affects very young children.

With the level of danger the cancer presented, the doctor recommended that the affected eye be surgically removed. Although heartbroken by the diagnosis, the family knew surgery was their only hope to save their son. The operation was a success, and Priyansh’s outlook improved, but the journey was far from over. Following the surgery, Priyansh underwent grueling chemotherapy sessions to make sure there were no remaining cancer cells. The little boy was left weakened and frail, but kept his spirits up during treatment.

Due to the demands of Priyansh’s treatment, Raj, who works as a taxi driver, had to take time off work. In order to help free the family from the financial burden caused by Priyansh’s diagnosis, the L V Prasad Eye Institute was able to offer the treatment completely free of charge, allowing the family to focus on recovery.

Today, Priyansh is stable, and his parents are extremely grateful for the care he received.

To date, the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer has identified and treated 18,515 patients for eye cancer.

With special thanks to the L V Prasad Eye Institute, who originally reported this story.

The post Early detection gives little boy a second chance at life appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a young man in a remote village, watching your parents struggle to bring food to the table, and realizing that you’re losing your sight?

And imagine what it would be like to be a mother living in poverty and watching your son go blind?

When Shivsagar started to lose his sight as a child, his mother didn’t have any other option but to take him to a healer in the village. Their village did not have a healthcare centre, and Shivsagar’s mother couldn’t afford the bus fare to the nearest hospital, let alone the expensive sight-saving treatments. Besides, taking Shivsagar to the hospital would cost her a day’s work and cost her family a day’s meal. So, she did all she could – placing all her hopes on the village healer and praying for her son’s remaining sight.

Sadly, the folk healer’s medicines had no effect. Shivsagar’s mother helplessly watched her son’s world go dark around him. He became alienated and eventually he was forced to drop out of school.

In many communities in India, men are expected to look after their parents when they grow old. However, instead of growing up to become a breadwinner for the family, Shivsagar depended more and more on his mother for his daily needs. But one day everything changed!

Years after Shivsagar lost his sight, his sister got married and moved to the city of Bangalore with her husband.

Operation Eyesight established a vision centre in Bangalore and Jyoti, one of our community health workers, went door-to-door in the area screening households for their eye health. As luck would have it, Jyoti met Shivsagar’s sister. When Jyoti heard about Shivsagar, she urged his sister to bring him to Bangalore.

So 20-year-old Shivsagar travelled 700 kilometers to his sister’s place in Bangalore and met with Jyoti. Jyoti referred him to the vision centre and the hospital, where the doctors identified the damage to his cornea and offered a cornea transplantation surgery at an affordable, subsidized cost of less than 100 Canadian dollars.

Cornea transplants need eye donors. After being referred for the surgery, Shivsagar returned to his village and waited for a donor. The long-awaited call came a year later!

Two weeks after the surgery, he could see his surroundings again, and his sight would keep improving for the next three months.

Shivsagar is at his sister’s recovering from his surgery, ready to head home to take on his new life. Once he returns to his village, he hopes to find a job to support his mother.

It’s a new beginning! Not just for Shivsagar, but also for his mom. Now she can rest easy knowing that her son can provide for their little family, and she knows that his future is bright and full of hope – all thanks to the support of incredible people like you!

Thank you so much for your incredible gifts that are helping to restore sight and hope for people like Shivsagar! There are still thousands like him who need your help. Please consider donating today and give the gift of sight to more people in need – For All The World To See!

The post Hope comes in the form of a community health worker appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

The whole family depends on Hira’s son, who works as a labourer to make enough for them to get by. To help out, Hira gardens and sews clothing for the family, while taking care of her two granddaughters.

She was happy she could contribute at home, but she was able to help less and less over time, as her vision dimmed. She felt like there was some invisible film over her eyes that she couldn’t blink away, and it only got worse. Two years later, she was completely blind.

“I was too afraid to seek treatment,” says Hira. “My sister had cataract surgery done that left her blind, and she died blind. I was so afraid the same thing would happen to me.”

But our donors made it possible to help Hira through her fear.

Two community health workers arrived at Hira’s home and screened her eyes. They explained that her condition could be treated, and they counselled her on the procedures that would restore her sight. Then they referred her to an Operation Eyesight-established vision centre for examination.

Though she was afraid, Hira did go to the vision centre, where she was diagnosed with bilateral cataracts. She was then referred to Nepal Eye Hospital for surgery.

Hira still wasn’t convinced. “I was so afraid, but the community health workers introduced me to an older man who had received sight-restoring cataract surgery himself. His story calmed me, and finally I felt brave enough to get treated.”

Now, thanks to the support of eye health heroes like YOU, Hira’s sight has been restored!

“I am very happy about the treatment I received! Now I can do my daily activities on my own. My family can concentrate on their work, and I can help them when they need me.” 

Hira is now an eye health advocate in her own community! She is so grateful to the community health workers and the doctor who helped her regain her sight.

And most of all, she’s grateful to kind people like you who made it all possible!

Thank you so much for helping people like Hira get their lives back through the precious gift of sight! There are still thousands more women like Hira who need your help. Donate today and become an eye health hero.

The post From fearful blindness to joyous sight appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

It’s hard to believe that 2018 has come and gone, isn’t it? Time flies.

Last year people like you helped us reach thousands of people in need of eye care. Thank you for your support! So many people, like Elagonda from India, were helped through your generosity.

Here’s a letter Elagonda wanted us to share with you:

“My name is Elagonda. I’m 65 years old and live in India.

 I’m not a wealthy person, and although I have two daughters who could help support me, they’re both married and have their own lives to attend to. What my family did have in savings was used to arrange their marriages into good families.

 So I live alone… I lost my husband a few years ago, and I get by on a small pension from the government. When I can, I do some farming work to make a little more money. I depend on my eyes to earn my living, and I only realized to what extent when I started to lose my vision.

 One day, my world was so dark that I couldn’t keep working. I had no other income, and I could barely survive on my pension.

 Unexpectedly, one day a community health worker trained by Operation Eyesight was at my door. She screened my eyes and told me I had cataracts.

 I was poor though. How could I afford the surgeries for my eyes? But the health worker told me that my treatment would be free of charge, thanks to Operation Eyesight’s kind-hearted donors.

 After my surgery, I can see again! I can work and spend time with my friends and neighbours. I have hope again.

 I sincerely thank the people who give their money to help people like me, even though they don’t know me. My sight has been restored – and with it, my happiness!”

 This year, we hope you’ll help us reach more people like Elagonda with the gift of sight.

Here’s to everything we’ll do together in 2019!

Cheers to a new year!

The post Happy New Year! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.