The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Optician in sight care mission to Indian state
An optician from Peterborough travelled more than 4,000 miles to provide essential sight care to people in India.
Chintu Patel, who is ophthalmic director for Peterborough Specsavers in Hampton, spent four days carrying out sight tests for hundreds of residents in the town of Dwarka in Gujarat and then ensuring those in need were provided with spectacles.
He was part of a team of two doctors, a nurse, another optometrist and his wife, who is a pharmacist, who undertook the journey to the state, which is on the west coast of India.
Together they were able to see more than 750 people for eye tests.
In these tests, more than 1,000 pairs of glasses were provided and which were a mixture of ready readers and glasses that were glazed locally.
Chintu said: “This was a really important trip to make as there are so many people across the world who don’t have access to basic medical needs.
“Every one of these trips is important, and this one just felt special to me as my family are from the state of Gujarat, so it felt somewhat close to home.”
As well as optical care, more than 450 people were seen by the medical team and were administered medication too.
Steve Emmingham, retail director of the Specsavers store in the Serpentine Green Shopping Centre, said: “I am so proud of Chintu and the whole team who went out there to provide these essential services.”