Vision Restoring Story
This is a genuine story of a common man who was living his life like a dried log of a dead tree. At least the dried log has any purpose. It can make a fire. But what life meant to others was probably a curse for Khadke Damaai. He was Deaf-Mute since birth and Cataract took his vision away.
It was mid of august a few years ago when I was working at a remote eye care center in one of the remote places in Nepal. It was just a few years that Rapti Eye Hospital had established an eye center in the Rukum district of Nepal.
After I came to Rukum as an in-charge we had to check patients who would come to us with their eye problems from far villages in Extreme Remote of Rukum and Dolpa District. Patients would only visit us if the problem was very serious. They would always come to us after they were done with Traditional Healers. We consider traditional Healers like Dhami and Jhakri to be using superstitious methods for treatment.
It was the time of free surgical eye camp at the Rukum Eye Center. Every year Rapti Eye Hospital would come with a team of ophthalmologists and free eye screenings and free eye surgeries as needed. It was the best time of the year for the needy people because the Rapti eye hospital had brought the cure for their blindness.
Like other patients, I saw Khadke Damaai for the first time at Rukum Eye Care Center.
A lean and thin old man with a wrinkled and confused face, that drew my attention from the screening room when I saw him coming with his brother.
Sarke Damaai, the brother of Khadke was a very poor tailor who would work at anybody’s shop so he could earn little. He was the only source of income for the family.
Khadke didn’t allow us to put an eye anesthetic block. We couldn't perform cataract surgery on him. Khadke and his brother returned with disappointment. After a few days, other staff of the eye center and I planned to visit his house.
It took us long, trekking up the hills into the forest. We found a small hut with an old man sitting in worry with a sad face. That face had so much pain, and it is still printed in my mind. We talked to the wife of Sarke, who was at the house at the moment while her husband was out for work.
Seeing the pitiful condition of khadke, I thought I would take him and his brother to Rapti Eye Hospital. One day we packed our bags and came down to the plains from the hills and Himalayas of Rukum to the city of Tulsipur.
Dr. Sulaxmi and the team of Rapti Eye Hospital successfully performed cataract surgery in both of the eyes of Khadke Damaai.
The next day, The look on his face was genuine happiness. He was happy to see the world once again.
Khadke and his brother returned to Rukum and after a few days, I planned to visit khadke’s house to see what he was doing. This time what I saw was amazing. I saw khadke bringing the firewoods and planting the vegetables in the field.
It was an amazing lifetime experience to help someone to bring back his sight. There are many people like khadke who need our attention. We need to find blindness hidden in remote parts of the world.
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| Eye Doctors who performed surgery of Khadke |
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