Bengaluru (Karnataka): The eyes of the Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar who died of a sudden heart attack on October 29 were donated to four people. Now the Narayana Nethralaya has embarked on a new endeavour.
Doctors at Narayan Netralaya hospital are working to use his stem cells to give eyesight to multiple beneficiaries.
Puneet Rajkumar's eyes were healthy at the time of his death following which Narayana Nethralaya has come up with a project to give vision for the blind using stem cells.
This is the first time Narayana Nethralaya has planned to use a person's cornea and stem cells to provide vision to the blind. Stem cells can be used for crackers or other accidental vision damage cases.
Doctors are using the stem cells in the junction of the pupil (the black part) and the sclera (white) of the eye to treat patients with vision lost due to firecracker bursting or chemical spray. The stem cells are still being grown in the lab and are expected to be ready for transplant soon.
"Stem cells can be used to treat the patients with damaged vision due to crackers, chemical spray and eye drainage. These cells will be used for those in need. Now doctors can give vision to 5 to 10 people with Appu's stem cells. These stem cells are stored in the sclera of the eye(white part of the eye that surrounds the cornea), " said Dr Bhujangashetti working at Narayana Nethralaya hospital.
READ: Puneeth fans get inspiration from their icon, queue up for eye donation
