Blind students receive sight in Ethiopia
Thank You SightLife supporters!
Doctor Tilahun Kiros, who recently spent time training at SightLife in Seattle, and I completed 9 cornea transplants in Mekelle, Ethiopia with gratis tissue from SightLife.
Dr. Matt Oliva and patient after cornea transplant.
Before surgery, the patient was totally blind and
had to be led around by others. Now he gets
around by himself without help.
All of the transplants were on bilaterally blind young patients, including two from the blind school. In this photo I am standing with one of the recipients. Before surgery, he was totally blind and had to be led around by others. After the surgery, he was smiling and could get around by himself without help.
Doctor Kiros is becoming an excellent transplant surgeon and is now better equipped to meet the incredible need for cornea transplantation in Northern Ethiopia. I also stopped by the Ethiopia Eye Bank. This amazing facility is the donation center for the entire country of 85 million persons. The staff is competent and compassionate. They are primed for success to supply more corneas to the five surgeons doing transplants in Ethiopia.
Blind patient in need of
a cornea transplant
The amount of cornea blindess in Ethiopia is staggering, primarily due to vitamin A deficiency and measles, trachoma, trauma, and infection. The eye bank is adjacent to a major residency training center for Africa, and the young surgeons are getting important exposure to cornea tranplantation.
Dr. Yonas and Dr. Kiros are both dynamic and skilled. We will be back soon, and I know they will be good partners for the future.
Warm regards,
Dr. Matt Oliva
Editor's note: In addition to his yearly training and sight restoration trips to developing countries, Dr. Oliva serves as an Associate Medical Director for SightLife.
Your gift of $120 makes a blind person see. Your gift in any amount builds eye banks that restore hope for millions of men, women, and children living in unnecessary corneal blindness.
