Warangal: A far-flung village in Telangana's Warangal has set an example by restoring the vision of the visually challenged through mass eye donations. The entire population of Muchharla village, a remote hamlet in the Hasanparthi mandal in Hanumakonda district have pledged to donate their eyes with 52 people having carried out the noble deed.
The inspiration of Muchharla village, which lights up the lives of many people, is interesting. Mandala Ravinder, a government engineer from the village donated the eyes of his mother after her death in 2013. A few years later, when his 93-year-old father died, Ravinder continued with the same spirit and encouraged others to create awareness about eye donation.
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Ravinder was later joined by Sujatha, Rajamani, Swapna, Rani and Kalyani all of whom are working extensively on eye donation ever since and the eye donation became a tradition. The group also invited the people from the neighbouring villages besides their relatives and friends to donate their eyes after their death.
The 74-year-old, Malla Reddy, donated eyes, along with five other families. So did Ramaswamy, the Lingamma couple, Sai Reddy besides many others in the village. When someone dies in the village, a team goes and talks to their family members to donate the eyes. Sujata said that although some respond well, many others are still hesitant to donate eyes, which poses a challenge to their work.
Whenever someone donates their eyes, on the tenth day Telangana Eye Organ Donor Association Warangal President Konreddy Mallareddy holds a memorial meeting in the person's name. The cornea of the eye must be collected within six hours of a person's death. That is why whoever dies in the village calls Ravinder first who informs the staff at the eye clinic in Warangal, which later collects the eyes.
In times of emergency, Ravinder travels in his vehicle and brings the staff to help collect the eyes. Ravinder said that the collected eyes are taken to LV Prasad Eye Hospital in Hyderabad to transplant the eyes to the needy. Ravinder said that the spirit of Muchharla village has inspired the people of neighbouring villages like Vangapahad, Bhimaram, Narlapuram, Sarvapuram and others with people coming forward for eye donations.
