Stabroek News

Anonymous donor pays for Rupununi youth’s eye-saving surgery

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a lot, also with the eye I am not seeing very sharp even though I changed my glasses I still get the dry eyes especially when I’m reading and I like to read. Occasional­ly I’d watch TV, but I love reading and when I do that it causes extreme dry eyes… Sometimes I wouldn’t be able to open my eyes when I woke up and this caused me to go to the ophthalmol­ogist at Balwant Singh where they did their evaluation­s,’ Duncan explained.

While the surgery, which is set for next Thursday at the Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital, will not be able to correct the damage already done to his eyes, the young man observed that the surgery, as explained to him by the ophthalmol­ogist will stop the condition from getting worse.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health has since contacted Duncan and informed him that they are interested in meeting him to discuss monitoring his condition before and after the surgery, as well as, providing whatever medical assistance he may need.

Offering some insight on what the surgery entails, Duncan said the surgery is a simple one that will last a maximum of 30 minutes and contact lenses will be inserted into his eyes, before riboflavin fluid is applied and exposed to UV lights.

In acknowledg­ing those who offered their support, Duncan made mention of family friend Yimochi Melville who encouraged him to be open about his condition.

“Yimochi is a guy who pushes a lot and if it has to be done, he gets it done and he’s the one who pushed me to go public with my condition. If it wasn’t for him I would have never gone public…I kept my condition to myself and I was hoping to quietly raise the funds myself but he’s the one who made the poster that I shared on my Facebook [page] that led to all of this,” the young man related.

He also sought to thank everyone else who reached out to him via text, phone and social media, saying, “A lot of people reached out on Facebook, text and phone calls, and I am really grateful to everyone. It has taken that burden off of me.”

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