Blind donors have a vision for the visually-impaired

Tryambak Mokasare, 45, lost his eyesight 35 years ago, but the visual impairment could not fade his vision for a better morrow. Last week, the teacher at the school for the blind run by the Blind Relief Association (BRA) in Nagpur donated his healthy cornea so that it may bring back the beauty of nature and rainbow colours in the life of someone who covets an eye!

“When you donate an eye, you actually gift Sun to someone,” Mokasare says. When the doctors told him that his cornea was healthy, he decided to donate it post-death. “Even if it doesn’t light the vision of a person, it could come in handy for the purpose of medical research,” says the teacher.

Mokasare’s initiative triggered a spontaneous response, with his co-teachers and students above 18 years of age pledging their eyes in a programme hosted by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Mission Eye project in their school premises.
This is perhaps the first occasion when the blind have donated eyes for the blind, says Sushma Fulari-Mankar, coordinator, civic body’s Eye Mission. “This is remarkable when you see a normal person reluctant to donate his or her eyes. We hope this gesture will motivate healthy persons to donate their eyes.”

“I’ve seen the nature’s colours, unending blue canvas of sky and a free flowing river; I’m now confined to the perpetual darkness of blindness. Who’d know the importance of an eye and sight better than I do?” remarks a poetic Mokasare. He lost his vision to an eye-infection for which his family had no means for the treatment in his northern Maharashtra village. As he finished his education and joined the school as a teacher some 22 years ago, he and his wife wished if they could donate their eyes.

“Since my wife has normal vision, her eyes can surely light someone’s life, but I wasn’t sure whether I could donate my eyes.” informs Mokasare. When doctors confirmed that his cornea was healthy, he did not blink twice to pledge it!

Equally inspiring is the decision of his student at the BRA’s training workshop, Kiran Pawar, 18, who too lost his eye-sight when he was 10 years of age. Kiran is among the students of the Blind School who pledged their eyes on the same day.

Kiran, who comes from Mahurli village in Washim district, heard about eye-donation on the radio while working in the workshop.

“I may never see again, but if my cornea brings back someone’s vision, it would be my bit for the nation,” says the teenager, who is now driving his batchmates to pledge their eyes and corneas if the doctors find them worth someone’s eyes!

Doctors would now conduct a check-up on them to find out if their corneas were healthy and could be used for transplantation. “Even if the corneas are unhealthy, I would still like to donate my eyes for medical research,” insists a partially blind Anita Deshpande, a trained special teacher with the school.

Last Saturday, President Pratibha Patil also set an example by pledging to donate her eyes post-death and completed the formalities. A delegation of the Mahatme Eye Bank, Nagpur, met her in Amravati during her two-day tour.

Over 44,000 people in Nagpur and close to 1.5 crore people in India are blind, but the eye donation scenario is worse than that of voluntary blood donation.

In 2007, ten eye banks of Nagpur received only 364 eyeballs in donation. Only 37 could be transplanted while 181 were put to use in medical study. The remaining 146 got ruined due to various factors, mostly natural, according to the data.

“But our campaign has helped evoke a good response,” says Sushma, who has been dedicatedly holding the eye-donation programmes for the last one year in schools, social organisations, government establishments and public places.

“This year, over 5,000 people of the city have pledged to donate their eyes and have registered with us,” she reveals. “I hope the blind teachers and students will inspire those who have normal vision.”

Raghuveer Kurmi, another blind teacher with the school, says he’s donating his corneas too. He only prays doctors find it as healthy as his spirit!