Indore: Five see the world with eyes of temple tragedy victims

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The big-hearted family members of eight of the deceased who died in the Beleshwar temple tragedy could get their loved ones ‘see’ the world even after their death as the corneas donated by them have given new eyesight to five needy patients.

Those who got their ‘new’ vision expressed their gratitude to the families and even went to meet the family members, who despite their sorrow made the grand gesture of donating their eyes.

According to Dr Shweta Walia, professor of ophthalmology, keratoplasty of five patients was done successfully at Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital on Thursday.

“Corneas were donated by family members of deceased Daksha Patel, Bhumika Khanchandani, Madhu Bhammani and others. Corneas were transplanted to five patients including four males and one female. All patients are recovering well and will be discharged in a day or two,” Dr Walia said adding “Our team including Dr P Rawat, Dr Neetu Kori, Dr Manushree Gautam, and Dr Niharika Arya performed the surgery.”

She added that the ophthalmology department has been conducting keratoplasty regularly and at present, they don’t have any patients waiting for a cornea transplant.

“There is an increase in awareness among people for cornea donation but the gap between the demand and availability is huge. There is a requirement of at least 50,000 cornea transplants every year in the country, but only about five per cent of transplants take place,” Dr Walia added.

These are the recipient

1 38-year-old male

2 80-year-old female

3 60-year-old male

4 55-year-old male 

5 52-year-old  male

I want to thank the family members of the person who died but donated his ‘vision’ to me:

Recipient

“I was suffering from herpes about four years ago, and it also affected my eyes. I approached the doctors at MY Hospital and got my vision back. I am grateful to the families who donated cornea. I will meet the family members and tell them that their loved one is seeing the world through me.”

38-year-old male patient, resident of Shajapur