"The greatest gift is a portion of thyself" -R.W.Emerson


I tagged myself...saw this post on Meena Sundar's and thought heck, this is one thing that needs to be spreading! To spread the good word, this post is being tagged from one iLander to another, spurring more and more people to get informed about eye-donation, and the ways/ means on how one could do it. The procedures are simple, and the post has an embedded link to a website ("lightaneye") that gives a list of all the hospitals in your area where the corneal operation could be done.


((Those who wish to carry this post on their iLands, begin here. From my end, I tag Friendly Ghost (yea yea do a good deed and post this) Rajesh Vora, Prachi, Ratna Rajaiah, Misty Bella and Observer Me)

Here"s Udita"s blog:

"What a Wonderful World"

-Louis Armstrong

“ I see trees of green, red roses too
 I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
 The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
 And I think to myself, what a wonderful world”

The soulful rendering of this song evokes vivid images of a vibrant, colourful world. Ever wondered how a sightless person would react to this song? How would he visualize the host of golden Daffodils, fluttering and dancing in the breeze, flash upon that inward eye, which was the  bliss of solitude for Wordsworth?! What a dark, dreary world with everything dyed in monochrome- BLACK !! And yet, those of us who are fortunate enough to be blessed with the miracle of sight, do precious little to restore this gift to our less fortunate brethren, snug in the comfort of our cocooned lives! Here are a few facts about corneal blindness.

FACTSHEET

Ø      Corneal blindness mostly affects children

Ø      Corneal blindness can be cured only by corneal grafting from a donated eye

Ø      One can pledge to donate eyes during one’s lifetime

Ø      Eyes can be donated only after death

Ø      If not pledged, eye donation can be done with the consent of relatives

Ø      People of all age groups can donate eyes

Ø      In India, there is a requirement of about 1 lakh corneas per year, whereas only 30,000 are donated

Ø      This shortfall can easily be bridged by spreading awareness about eye donation

 HOW WE CAN HELP

Spread the good word around- most of us are not aware how a little effort on our part can light up someone’s life!


In the unfortunate event of death of an acquaintance, try to persuade the family to donate the eyes. This is the toughest part, considering the sensitivity of the situation, but if the family can be convinced that

    * the eyes of the donor will live on after him,
    * giving sight to two persons for a lifetime, and
    * that the procedure of removal is free of cost, simple, hassle-free, & does not cause any disfigurement to the body, it is quite likely they would agree. So here’s the real test of your persuasive skills! Once you have their consent, here’s what you need to do next.

     

Call the nearest eye bank immediately. For Delhi, dial 1919 ( 24 hr-MTNL Toll-free service).Telephone  numbers of eye banks in other cities are available on the website www.lightaneye.org.

     

 Switch off all fans in the room- cooler or AC, if available, can run.

     

Wrap some ice cubes in damp cotton, & keep them on the eyes. This  prevents the tissue from drying up, & helps keep it fesh.

     

 Keep the head slightly raised with a pillow.

     

Doctor/technician
from the eye bank will reach the venue within the shortest possible
time, collect about 10 ml blood, and remove the corneas, all in 15
minutes.

     

Eyes are fit for retrieval upto 6 hours after death.

     

 Remember, donated corneas are never sold/traded.

 
The Govt of India is also organizing National Eye Donation Fortnight from August 25 to Sept 8, 2007 to highlight the cause. Friends, where there’s a will, there’s definitely a way……..come, let us all join hands to eliminate the scourge of corneal blindness from the face of our country, and help everyone relish the rainbow hues that you and I take for granted!

- Picture Courtesy - Internet (for a good cause :)  )