Ranchi doctors help Bihar boy see again

Ranchi: Suraj Kumar Paswan, a resident of Gaya and the son of a farmer, was six weeks away from losing vision in his right eye after he was hit by a stone while travelling on a Patna-bound train in March. Paswan's severed eye developed a haemorrhage and a cornea dislocation. Repeated attempts to remove blood and improve vision through surgery failed.
The 20-year-old needed cornea replacement surgery as well as the implantation of an expensive valve at the back of the eye for him to ever have the chance to see again.
The doctors of Medica, a Ranchi-based super-specialty hospital, decided to bear Paswan's surgery expenses. "Blood pressure was gradually damaging the optic nerve. He (Paswan) would have lost vision in two months," Dr Anindya Anuradha, an eye surgeon at Medica super-specialty hospital said.
Paswan's father, Gyanendra, could not afford the USA-produced Ahmed Glaucoma Valve, a glaucoma drainage device commonly used in the treatment of recalcitrant glaucoma.
Anuradha decided to step in and make necessary arrangements. "We contacted the valve makers in the US and requested them to send us one at a subsidized rate. After they were apprised of the patient's economic status, they donated the equipment," said Anuradha.
The hospital also got in touch with a New Delhi-based organization that collects corneas for transplant. The distribution centre contributed and transported a cornea by flight on June 24. The surgery was conducted the next day, the hospital said. Around 90% of Paswan's vision was restored after the surgery.