I
came across this piece of statistical information, from one of the websites,
which I wish to share with you with a fond hope that you may like to consider
the idea of donating your eye, after your death.
Eye
donation is still not very popular among us Indians, because it involves an
action after our death and very often considered a social taboo.
“There are currently an estimated 15 million
blind people in India.
6.8 million of these suffer from corneal blindness with vision less than 6/60
in at least one eye, and of these, about 1 million have bilateral corneal
blindness. If the present trend continues, it is expected that the number of
corneally blind individuals in India
will increase to 8.4 million in 2010 and 10.6 million by 2020. Of these atleast
3 million can be benefited by corneal transplantation. Thus, to effectively
meet the ever growing demand, we need around 150,000 corneal transplants to be
performed every year. However, the current supply is only 22000 corneas per
year. “
Now
this gives a great scope for many blind people to see, if more number of people
volunteered to donate their eyes after death.
Of
the many type of physically handicapped people, I come across in life, I have
had a special empathy for the blind. Eyes are the windows to the world and it
is quiet unimaginable to live a life, not experiencing the beauty of seeing
God’s creations.
In
my school days, I was a member of the Interact Club – the junior wing of the
Rotary Club. During this period as a member, I used to visit the blind school
on specified days and spend some time with inmates of the blind school. I used
to serve their need of communicating with their loved ones, by writing letters
on their behalf. As they dictate word by word, I pen them down in inland letter sheets or
post cards and send it out. In these moments, I have been able to experience
their pain and emotions, as they share their thoughts and feelings through
their letters. I
cherished doing such acts of service, for it
gave me a great amount of soul satisfaction. It is at that age, I
decided that I will donate my eyes to a blind person, when I die.
In
my first year of college, on my 19th birthday, I visited the Sankara Nethralaya Hospital
at Chennai and informed them about my willingness to donate my eyes. They gave
me a form and asked me to fill it up. After which they gave me a small card,
which says, “I am an eye donor” with the name and phone number of the hospital.
They asked me to retain this card, in my wallet. It is like carrying ‘a will in your
packet’. I felt as if I have
done a heroic deed, on that day. Only a little later in life, I realized that
donating our eyes is not in our hands, but in the hands of our family members.
So
along with donating our eyes, comes two additional responsibilities.
No.1,
we need to educate our spouse and children the need for eye donation and our
desire to do so. Because after our death it is they who need to take the action
of calling the local hospital to come and collect our eyes. The eyes has to be
removed within 6 hours of a person’s death. There may be a lot of emotional
turmoil in the family, at that moment, yet they have to be calm and composed
enough to willfully discharge our wish, and prove to be the real heros.
No.2,
we need to take care of the eyes, we have volunteered to donate, by eating the
right food, taking good rest and keeping it in ideal condition, so that it is
useable.
Donating
our eyes could be one of the noblest act of service we could do, because it can
light up someone’s world with infinite possibilities. Let our eyes, that would
otherwise be burned or buried along with our corpse, go for a better cause.
If
this article could convince atleast a few readers to donate their eyes, I feel
I have travelled a extra mile in
spreading the noble cause.
Happy
Reading,
D.Senthil
Kannan
Article dated Mar'09
