It all began with Shyamukh Garg, a freedom fighter, Congress MLA and district Congress president who became the first eye donor in his district in 1975. After his death, his eyes were given to his grandson who had lost vision at birth. The young boy is now an engineer.
Ever since, members of the Garg family not only donated their eyes but also vowed to persuade others to follow their example. "We wanted others to be as happy as we were," says M.L. Garg, Shyamukh’s son. He persuaded friends and members of a local club to take up the campaign. Not that the job was easy. There were taboos to counter, including the belief that one who donates his eyes would be born blind in the next birth.
But perseverance paid. So much so that even the police started allowing the eyes of accident victims to be removed before the post-mortem. But there were problems. Eyes have to be removed within six hours of death and properly preserved for transplantation, which has to be done within 90 hours, says M. L. Trivedi, hospital superintendent of the Gomabai Nethralaya and Research Centre (GNRC). Neemuch had no facility and the extracted corneas were sent to Indore, about 250 km away, in iceboxes and would often atrophy before being used. But a local philanthropist and businessman, G.D. Agarwal, stepped forward to help.
Agarwal, who made his money running coaching classes in Mumbai, started the Gomabai eye hospital in 1992. Besides corneal transplant, the hospital has facilities for cataract, retinal detachment and glaucoma surgeries. So far, 6,061 surgeries have been performed of which 3,726 were done free. Agarwal and the hospital runs the eye donation campaign which the Gargs kickstarted.
The movement is now spreading to the rural areas. "Before they start Gita recital for the dying person, they telephone the hospital," says Dr Jacob, head of GNRC. "Though a town of just 150,000 people, Neemuch accounts for maximum per capita eye donations in India. More than 1,230 pairs have been donated here last year and about 500 have been transplanted by us," Jacob adds.
Indeed, donating one’s eyes has become a matter of pride here.
Contact GNRC, Vikas Marg, Neemuch—458441, MP. Tel: 07423-20122, 21526
