Make Your Eyes Alive After Death By Donating Eyes

Make Blind People Live Better By Giving Them gift of Sight

I was sitting on my balcony and having a cup of tea. I saw a blind girl crossing the street in front of my house. She was with her father. She was listening to the voice of kids playing there with a smile on her face. I was just watching her. She passed the street in 5 minutes but left a lot of thoughts in my mind. Curiously, I closed my eyes and tried to do my work as a blind person would. But I could not do it, I felt suffocated and in this half an hour I realized how blind people go through their whole life. They have to face unlimited difficulties, limitations, dependency, fear, insecurity and helplessness. In other words, they face a lot of problems. They are not able to see anything meaningful. When someone asked a blind person just after he got sight that what was the feeling while he was blind, darkness or what? His answer was NOTHINGNESS. They are not able to see the beauty of the world, the beauty of nature, the blue sky, the colorful rainbow, the shining stars, beautiful butterflies. They cant feel the happiness of how snowfall, flying kite in sky, water flows in river, how mountains looks like, how beautiful the sunrises and sunsets. Blind people will never see the emotions of love & affection, happiness and sadness in the eyes of their beloved. They miss so many things. They have to fight even for the smallest things in life. A lot of them feel like they are a burden for others. They do not get to live. Blind people end up spending their life without meaning.

People end up taking advantage of the blind by molesting them and making their life hell. But we can give them another chance to live their life. We can make their life better by giving them the gift of sight.

Demand and Supply

According to WHO,  80% of the blindness is either preventable or treatable. But people are still facing this problem because there is a huge difference in demand & supply. The problem is not that we do not have enough corneas, it is that we are ready to burn those rather than making use of them. There is a demand of around 2,00,000 to 2,50,000 donor tissue every year. But only 50,000 of them are collected every year. Out of which only 30,000 corneas operated. 20,000 of them get wasted due to lots of reasons. We have never done the math. Approximately, 97,78,073 die in India every year, yet we do not have enough eyes. Why can we not fulfill the demand? We have enough supply. We are wasting it by cremating them. We are concerned about following the ritual without caring about the people who can make use of them. We tend to ignore that it is not the right place for the eyes. Somebody can still make use of them. I believe in spreading this beautiful gift of sight rather than cremating it. Donating eyes to another person can light up the life of two people. Blindness is one of the biggest public health problems in developing countries. But why?

Why blindness is a huge problem?

What is the reason for this huge problem? There are a lot of reasons behind it. One of the biggest reasons is that a lot of people are not aware of the importance of eye donation. People have no idea how easy it is. Everybody has misconceptions about organ and tissue donation which makes people feel scared about the disfigurement of the face. Organ donation comes with no cost involved. It is just a single call. The other common reason cited for not wanting to donate could be the mistrust in doctors & hospitals.

1. But all we have to know about eye donation is that anybody can pledge to donate their eyes at any age but the operation is carried out only after death.

2. Eyes of a donated person can save the vision of two to four corneal blind people.

3. Anybody can pledge to donate their eyes irrespective of age, sex, and blood group. People who use lenses or spectacle or even those who have gotten their eyes operated can still donate their eyes.

4. The cornea needs to be removed within 6 to 8 hours of death. It takes only 10-15 minutes. It leaves no scar or disfigurement of the face. After the eyeball has been taken out, a transparent eye cap is put in place of the eyeball. Through the entire donation process, the body is treated with care, respect & dignity.

5. Donated eyes are never bought or sold. It is illegal. The identities of both donor and recipient are kept confidential.

6. Humans with a systemic infection like AIDS, Hepatitis B or C, Rabies, Tetanus, Malaria can't donate their eyes.

The Process of eye donation is very easy!

1. For eye donation, you need to fill the pledge form and send it to any of the nearest eye banks. Once you get registered as an eye donor you will be provided with an eye donor card. After pledging please inform your family about your wish to donate eyes, in order that they will fulfill your wish. After the death of the donor you just need to contact the eye bank team. The team will come to the donor residence or the hospital where the death has occurred and perform the corneal excision.

2. It takes only 15/20 minutes. Hence, the funeral is not delayed.

3. The cornea is taken to the eye bank and evaluated by a trained eye bank staff. Tests are carried out on the tissue. The cornea forwarded to the corneal surgeon. The waiting list is a reprisal. The recipient is called for the corneal transplant.

4. The transplant brings immeasurable happiness to the person. It is unbelievable.

Then why don't we THINK to give them a chance to the most useful and needed thing only after it becomes useless for us.

Then why don't we FEEL the difficulties, need and problems they are facing throughout their lives.

Then why don't we SEE what all they are missing.

Spread Awareness

1. In my opinion, the revolution will happen if we target the younger generation, teenagers & kids. We can spread awareness among this generation by planning sessions at places like offices, colleges, schools, clubs. We can spread awareness among our friends, colleagues, relatives, and others about eye/organ donation.

2. Celebrity endorsements videos should showcase how big of a difference it can make in society.

3. In any country, the Government plays a vital role in the betterment of the country. So, they should take this step forward. There should be campaigns for eye donation.

4. The Government can also make policies for the prisoners who have been given a death sentence. Because the time of death is fixed in this case it will make it easier to carry the process.

5. Social media is one of the most powerful sources to spread awareness.  We can find a television and phone in every single household. So, steps can be taken to spread awareness through small documentaries or advertisements.

6. There should be healthy counseling in hospitals to make people aware about eye/organ donation.

Do You know How Many Lives You Can Save?

Before two months I didn't even know that one organ donor has the potential to save eight lives by donating their heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys & intestines. I alone can improve as many as 60 to 75 lives by donating my ribs, bones, tendons, corneas, heart valves, skin, veins, and nerves.

Keep A Part Of You Alive

In the end, I only can say that don't think of organ donation as giving up a part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It's the other way around. The stranger gives up almost all of themselves to keep a part of you alive.

"Make Your Eyes Alive After Death"

After I die if I get buried my body will rot,

If I get cremated my body will turn into ash but,

If my organs are gifted I will live to give life and happiness to numerous people.

"LIVE LIFE AFTER DEATH"

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Must watch videos on eye donation

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Acknowledgement

I would like to special thanks of gratitude to Akshat Kejriwal for his support in completing this blog.

FAQs on Eye Donation

How can I register for my eye donation?

For eye donation, you are required to fill the pledge form and send it to any of the nearest eye bank. Once you are registered as an eye donor you will be provided an  Eye Donor Card. For Online Eye Donation Registration please Click here