The man in this picture is 32 year-old Dr Shiva, an eye surgeon living in the state of Orissa in India. The woman is ophthalmologist Dr Lucy Mathen from the London-based charity Second Sight. The boys are 9 year-old Subala Suna and 12 year-old Ranjit Bariha. Both were blind and had their sight restored by cataract surgery.
Earlier this year, Lucy met Dr Shiva and discovered that: - He had single-handedly cured 6,000 blind people in the past year - He had offered all the surgery free of charge - He took no salary and sleeps on the floor of his office - He works from 4.30am till midnight most days. Why?
Because the state of Orissa has at least half a million people unnecessarily blind from cataract. And he can restore sight in just three minutes (perhaps five minutes when it comes to children like the two in this picture).
Shiva comes from a poor family himself. So he has dedicated his life as an ophthalmologist to eradicating blindness from his home state. With his surgical skills he could be earning a fortune in one of India’s wealthy cities (where 80 per cent of eye surgeons work in private practice).
Second Sight seeks out doctors like Dr Shiva who are actually curing the blind. Second Sight's own experienced volunteer surgeons also work alongside teams like Dr Shiva’s and cure the blind themselves.
Second Sight does not spend one penny of donated money on office costs. Second Sight is run by volunteers. So your donation goes straight to the hospital where the operation is carried out.
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