Patient Stories

Cataracts are usually thought to affect older people, but children can also develop them – take, for example, the story of 14-year-old Bipana Rai from Solukhumbu in Nepal, who was born visually impaired due to congenital cataracts.

Bipana, recently completed her eighth grade and was worried that her worsening cataracts were going to affect her ongoing education. Her school in the remote hills of Nepal did not have any special provisions for the blind. For Bipanu, blindness implied the end of her educational journey.

Suffering from cataracts from a young age, she was already having a hard time concentrating at school. Sometimes she wouldn’t understand what the teacher had written on the blackboard and would have to ask her friends for help. She wasn’t able to do her homework and would often be excluded by her friends during playtime and on social occasions.

Despite all this, Bipani was cheerful and hadn’t lost all hope. One day, her family heard of an upcoming Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation cataract outreach surgery camp due to be held in Phaplu, Solukhumbu. This alliance between Dr Sanduk Ruit and Mr Tej Kohli aims to combat blindness by closing the pervasive treatment gap within the world’s poorest communities.

Bipana, with her mother and her sister, duly arrived at the surgical camp in Phaplu. There, after filling the required paperwork, she started her journey to recovery. Her cataracts were to be treated by one of the world’s best eye surgeon, the ‘God of Sight’ – Dr Sanduk Ruit.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

At the operating theatre in Phaplu, Solukhumbu, in a room which had been converted to an operating theatre only a few days earlier by the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation, Dr Ruit noticed that Bipana was visibly nervous. In a bid to calm her down, he engaged her in a light conversation. Then at the time of the operation, he asked her to recite the numbers from zero to hundred whilst he immerses himself in the procedure. By the time that Bipani has counted up to a hundred, the procedure is done and she is being bandaged.

The next morning, after almost a week of downpour, the sun is out. The mountains are glistening, and the sky is painted in a deep shade of blue. “It indeed is a pretty day to be seeing again,” says Bipani as her bandages are removed and she sees the world clearly again.

As she slowly opens her eyes, Bipani is overcome with emotion and cannot believe that she can see so clearly. Her mother and her sister are watching her intently, and they too are stunned as she tells Dr Ruit that she can see clearly.

A few hours later, Bipani says that she can see the forest, the hills, the mountains, and the sky. But the most excited she is about is going back to school. “I will now be able to study and do my homework without difficulty”, she says. Bipani’s best friend is called Manisha, and Bipani cannot wait to go back home and tell her that she can see clearly for the first time in her life.

For Shri Mani Rai, her earliest memory is of flowers – beautiful and colourful flowers at her childhood home in Solukhumbu – the foothills of Mt. Everest. At the age of sixteen, she was married, and the couple moved to Pelmang Rural Municipality. There, they started a family.

Life wasn’t without struggles, but the family made do with what little resources they had. However, tragedy struck threefold. In less than a decade Shri Mani first lost her son, then her husband, and then her eyesight.

Her husband, who suffered from asthma, required extensive medical attention and all of the assets that Shri Mani had to her name were exhausted during the course of her husband’s treatment – her land and her small one-room stone brick home.

Although she had suffered from cataracts for a very long time, two years ago, they matured, and Shri Mani was rendered completely blind. With her blindness came helplessness and dependency.

Already living alone in abject poverty, Shri Mani could not afford treatment. The closest eye hospital was more than 15 hours away, and she did not have the financial means or any other form of support to get there. She spent her days in darkness, sitting in one corner of her house, unsure what fate had in store for her.

Her daughter and her granddaughter took turns in helping Shri Mani – they would bring her food, clean her, and arrange her room. This was during the day. At night Shri Mani would be alone – not that daylight or nighttime made much difference to Shri Mani. 

In March 2021, a screening team from the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation, who were travelling to remote parts of Solukhumbu District to identify patients with cataract blindness, located her. After inspecting her eyes, they asked her to visit the Cataract Outreach Surgeries to be held in Phaplu by the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation in April 2021.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Shri Mani’s family were elated to learn that her surgery would be performed by none one other than Dr Sanduk Ruit, a world-leading eye surgeon who is also referred to as the God of Sight, as part of the outreach initiative of the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation.

On the 15^th of April, Shri Mani made the painstaking jeep ride of 6 hours via rough, risky mountain roads to reach Phaplu. And on the 16^th, her surgery was performed by Dr Ruit.

The next morning, anticipation was high – Shri Mani could not wait to have her bandages removed. At 7 a.m., Dr Ruit and his medical team arrived and removed her bandages.

Slowly, she opened her eyes – to sight.

The first thing she saw was Dr Ruit smiling. And then, as she scanned the surrounding, she saw other patients – one, Soorya Mani Rai who was sitting beside her was her neighbour. Shri Mani could not recognize Soorya Mani because she still had her bandages on – however when Soorya Mani’s bandages were removed and both of them saw each other – Ah! That moment was just too precious.

In the background, Shri Mani’s daughter quietly wiped her tears as she saw her mother able to see again. Her mother smiled illustriously.

The next day, before Shri Mani departed for her home, we asked her what she would do now that she could see:

I will take in all the sights from here to my home. I haven’t seen the river in such a long time. I might also tease a few villagers en route you know”, she replied mischievously.

That smile though – it lingered.

“Even if someone crossed me, I could not see”, said Lajvanti, who belongs to a family of five sisters and four brothers. Out of this family of nine siblings, seven shared the same complaint about their vision.

What started as a pricking sensation in their eyes gradually snowballed into a condition wherein the siblings could not identify people who stood right in front of them. If they stepped out into the daylight, their eyes would start watering.

Prakash, one of the elder siblings, never mentioned his condition to anyone even though it would interfere with his work. In 2017, his children learnt about his problem and took him to a doctor who was unable to provide any solution to him.

When the siblings’ family members started becoming more aware of their situation, they stepped in to help out. The wives learnt how to ride a motorbike and started working at the family’s shop to ease their spouse’s woes.

The family also decided to visit the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute, where Dr Prashant Garg examined their condition. After a thorough examination, he was able to determine that the brothers and sisters were suffering from a disorder known as macular corneal dystrophy, whereby the cornea becomes cloudy.

It is an inherited disorder, which is why many members of the same family suffered from the condition. While the disease starts at birth, it becomes increasingly intense with age. After diagnosing the family’s problem, Dr. decided on a clear path of action.

A corneal transplant was performed for five of the siblings on the same day, which was completed successfully. All of them felt significant improvement in their condition and quality of vision. After the surgery, the siblings felt like they were seeing their familiar world in a completely new way. Being able to see the faces of their loved ones and recognizing the nooks and corners of their homemade them extremely emotional.

One of the siblings who remembered seeing her granddaughter only as a child was jubilant to see her blossom into a teenager. The entire family felt ecstatic and grateful that after almost 30 years of visual impairment, they had received life-changing treatment at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute.

Lakshmamma, a field worker, believes that she injured her eyes in the field when she accidentally brushed her face against a thorn. Trying to mask the pain, she continued working despite noticeable swelling in her eye.

On the third day after the incident, the pain became so unbearable for Lakshmamma that she felt as if her eyeballs were going to fall out. At that point, she slowly started losing her vision. Slowly, she noticed that her eye had started getting filled with pus.

Lakshmamma’s nephew, who had himself visited the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute multiple times before, recommended that she visit the institute soon. At the institute, Dr Mukesh Taneja examined Lakshmamma’s condition. He noticed that she had a serious infection in her eyes which were made worse by the fact that she was not responding to medicines.

The team of doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute debated whether Lakshmamma should undergo a corneal transplant. However, due to the severity and nature of her infection, the chances of a corneal transplant being successful was low. The doctors, therefore, decided to administer antifungal injections to Lakshmamma.

Lakshmamma responded well to the antifungal injections and gradually her infection completely disappeared. She is now asymptomatic and completely free of any pain in her eyes. Lakshmamma visited the hospital weekly for her treatment and felt immensely grateful for the fact that the doctors did not charge her any fee for her treatment.

After returning to her village, Lakshmamma often tells others in need about the brilliant work done by the experienced team of eye doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute. Both Lakshmamma and her nephew are grateful for the compassion and empathy shown by the doctors, who patiently examined and healed her.

World over, many people suffer from visual and eye-related conditions. Healthcare remains a priority for most nations, however, only a handful of countries have a premium and affordable eye care institute that serves all sections of society. In search of such eye care institutes, people often have to travel around the world until they find one.

Shukri Murhad Sarhan, a 10-year-old boy from Yemen, was suffering deeply due to his visual impairment. Shukri’s visual impairment stemmed from an allergy that he had been suffering from for five years. To get his son assistance, Shukri’s father met multiple doctors in Yemen, who told him that Shukri’s cornea was completely damaged in his right eye. Due to limited facilities in Yemen, Shukri was unable to find any options for his cornea transplant. With just two large hospitals in the country, Shukri’s father was suggested to visit India.   

Dr Pratik Gogri, Cornea Cataract and Refractive Surgeon at the Tej Kohli Cornea Insititute first examined Shukri. He noted that Shukri’s previous doctors were not able to provide him with adequate treatment for his visual impairment due to his advanced stage of Keratoconus. The doctor also felt that if Shukri’s condition were to be prolonged, he would permanently lose his eyesight.

Since Shukri’s right cornea was completely damaged, it had to be replaced. The surgery was successful, thanks to the experienced doctors and facilities. After the surgery, the doctors and Shukri’s father witnessed a drastic improvement in his vision. Thanks to this, Shukri also became much more confident.

Shukri’s father, who found many similarities between Yemen and India during his son’s treatment, praised the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute for conducting a thorough examination and for providing treatment for his son.

Young people who grow up in rural India have to overcome a lot of challenges to achieve success in their life. These challenges get compounded even further when tragedy strikes in the form of a health issue.

Shivar, a teenager from a rural town in Telangana, always nursed high hopes for his future. To be able to work and contribute to his family, he had to first focus on excelling in his studies. While studying, Shivar noticed that his eyes had started watering. This made it extremely difficult for him to concentrate. For a long time, even though he was unable to see clearly, Shivar was afraid of informing anyone in his family about his condition.

A few months into his ordeal started, Shivar’s father started noticing his pain and insisted that Shivar should seek treatment. Together, Shivar and his father visited multiple hospitals in Mahbubnagar for almost an entire year. To support his family and to afford Shivar’s medical expenses, his father took up many odd jobs.

After multiple suggestions, Shivar visited the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute in Hyderabad. At the institute, Shivar presented his case to Dr Muralidhar who diagnosed him with a common corneal condition called Herpetic corneal disease. After long deliberation, the team of doctors undertook a procedure called Anterior Lamellar corneal transplantation.

Fortunately, once the surgery was completed, Shivar started recovering and showed significant visual improvement. Shivar himself felt much better after getting this treatment and was glad that he could get treated before his tenth class. Shivar studied hard and was able to achieve good results in his examination, thanks to his improved vision.

Doctors at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute were glad that Shivar never had a recurrence of infection throughout his course. Shivar felt thankful to Dr Muralidhar who patiently listened to his problems and worked out the best solutions for him. Shivar aims to work hard and become a civil engineer in the future so that he can provide a good life to his family.