The Gift of Sight

Under the auspices of the Ophthalmic Society of South Africa (OSSA) all five eye specialists based at the Pietermaritzburg Eye Hospital assist community members who cannot see, or afford private healthcare, by conducting surgery at no cost as part of the Right to Sight programme www.righttosight.org. The Right to Sight Trust is a registered public benefit organisation dedicated to ending avoidable blindness in South African is the philanthropic arm of  OSSA. “Cataract blindness is a leading cause of vision loss and is reversible,” commented Dr. Enslin Uys.

Earlier this year a candidate for cataract surgery was lead into Dr Uys’s consulting suite by a family member. He had been blind for over a year, being able to only see perception of light (PL) in the right eye and hand movements (HM) in the left eye. Dr Uys performed surgery on the right eye and removed the cataract (picture 1), under topical anaesthesia with sedation, and then placed a new intraocular lens inside his eye. This will focus the light on the back of his eye again (picture 2). The impact was evident immediately with the patient being able to recognise his relatives after the procedure. The following day he walked into Dr Uys’ suite unassisted. It is a privilege to have been able to restore the gentleman’s independence and dignity by giving him the gift of sight.