Give The Gift Of Sight

The National ‘Eye Donation Fortnight’ is celebrated every year from August 25th to September 8th in order to promote the process of eye donation. In our country, eye donation is the need of the hour because we as a nation require about 1,50,000 corneas every year and presently only have about 35,000 corneas donated.

Currently, India is striving to eliminate blindness in patients due to corneal diseases. Cornea is the transparent round zone in the centre of the eyeball and composed of five to six layers. And it is 0.5 to 0.6 mm thick. The loss of transparency due to diseases can occur in any age group but can be successfully treated by a procedure called corneal transplant.

The Method

In corneal transplantation the damaged cornea is replaced by a healthy cornea which Is donated. When an entire cornea is damaged It can be replaced in full thickness if certain layers are replaced. These layers can be separated from the donor cornea and replaced accordingly in the recipient: therefore In today’s times every cornea donated can give sight to more than one person. A person can always pledge his/her eyes for donation when he is living and the eyes can be harvested from him and transplanted in a very short span of time after death.

Myths

The common myth associated with eye donation is that if a person donates his eyes he will be born blind in his next lite. This is definitely not true as giving sight to people is definitely a good deed that no God will oversee this noble act to make one blind in their next lite.

Another common myth is that the removal of eyes causes disfigurement. However, with today’s techniques eye retrieval from the deceased, takes not more than 10 minutes with no noticeable disfigurement after removal of the eyes.

Take The Pledge

A person who pledges his or her eyes for donation should share this same information with family members to let them know about one’s wish so that they do not oppose the eye donation after that person’s death. Because this at times, acts as a serious hurdle in retrieving the donated eyes.

lf the family members are aware of the eye donation decision, they usually do not object, considering it as a wish of the deceased. One of the best gifts you can give someone after death, is the gift of sight to a blind person, who will then be able to see the world with your donated eyes.