Thol is forty six years old and a single mother to four children – Chang, Jay, Thas and 12 month old baby Cheet. Thol suffered from blinding cataracts in both eyes and had never seen her baby son’s face. Unable to work or take care of her children, she spent most of her time isolated in their tiny home. Thol’s husband left her when he realised she was losing her sight.
Before her operation, Thol’s worries were endless. She had to leave the care of her family to her eldest children aged between four and 17. Despite their tender ages, they had no choice but to spend their days collecting bags of rubbish and selling them for a few dollars. An education was a luxury this family simply couldn’t afford.
In the remote village where Thol lives, Dr Sarath and his surgical team arrive to address the backlog of cases. The first thing you notice about Dr Sarath is his beaming, youthful smile. Trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation and just 32 years old , Dr Sarath represents a new generation of Cambodian professionals in a country that tragically lost much of its workforce during the Khmer Rouge regime.
At the hospital, Thol is the youngest of Dr Sarath patients. With a local anaesthetic and just 15 minutes later, Dr Sarath has replaced Thol’s cloudy cataract with an intraocular lens manufactured by The Fred Hollows Foundation. In a gesture of gratitude, Thol places her hands together to thank the staff before she even leaves the operating room. Dr Sarath will restore sight to another 20 patients today.
There are just 34 eye surgeons in Cambodia – a country of over 15 million people. It can cost just $4,634 to train an ophthalmologist in specialised cataract surgery– training that takes just over two months.
The next morning, Thol’s patches are removed and she counts the fingers on Dr Sarath’s hand. As the children gather around, Thol reaches out to baby Cheet. Seeing his face for the first time, she exlaims, “I am so happy I feel like dancing!”
The Fred Hollows Foundation is working hard to make sure people in Cambodia have access to better eye health services. However we rely on the generosity of people like you to help us restore sight to people in the developing world.
Through a relatively straightforward operation, a mother has been given the gift of sight. Her children may now return to school and Thol regains her independence, happy that she can once again cook and care for her four children.
This festive season, will you consider giving again? Your gift could be the difference between a mother going blind, or looking forward to a better, brighter future.
All it took to dramatically change Thol’s terrible situation was an operation lasting 15 minutes. A donation this Christmas will help restore sight to more people just like Thol.
Since 1998, The Fred Hollows Foundation has worked in Cambodia and in that time the prevalence of avoidable blindness has declined by 68%. This is truly powerful work, and you play a huge part in helping us achieve our vision of ending avoidable blindness.
We are working with the Cambodian Government, The Australian Government and other key partners to strengthen and expand all levels of the public eye care system and we’re carrying out ground-breaking work in the education sector to embed basic eye health into school curricula
The results speak for themselves. Last year in Cambodia The Foundation:
• Screened 86,921 people
• Performed 13,620 eye operations and treatments
• Distributed 4,720 pairs of glasses
• Performed 33 diabetic retinopathy procedures and 128 lid surgeries to treat trachoma
• Trained 11 eye surgeons
• Donated $381,998 worth of equipment
In 2016 we are on track to improve these results and we look forward to bringing you news of this work next year.
Fred believed that the basic attribute of mankind is to look after each other.
Your generosity, for someone like Thol, could mean the difference between a brighter future, or a lifetime of darkness and suffering.
In the spirit of Fred Hollows we ask that you give as generously as possible to this important work – restoring sight and changing lives. We do hope we can count on your support.