Hooghly man collects cornea to help the sightless

A man from Hooghly generates awareness on eye donation across the by travelling across the state. For the last 15 years, he collects corneas and takes those from the district to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. He feels that the initiative will be successful only if more people join him.

Rajbalhat (Hooghly): With a motto to bring light in the lives of those who have lost their eyesight, Surojit Sheel a resident of Rajbalhat in Hooghly district has been collecting corneas for the last 15 years.

Hailing from a weaver's family, Surojit travels to remote villages of the district in a cycle carrying equipment for cornea collection. Although he does not have any formal training in this field, he has got trained in government hospital before starting this work.

Son of a weaver, Surojit works as a medicine supplier. Since 2007, he is involved in cornea collection and has managed to collect over 550 pair of corneas. Three other youths from Rajbalhat has also joined him in this work.

This apart, Surojit travels across the state to generate awareness on eye donation. The officials of the Rajbalhat's cultural circle that conducts eye check up and blood test camps said that presently there is no scope for cornea transplantation in the district hospitals. "The government should arrange facilities for cornea transplant in district hospitals apart from medical colleges to make cornea transplant successful," an official said.

An official of the cultural circle said around 30 lakh people can't see due to cornea-related problems but we can only manage to collect only 20,0000 to 30,000 corneas from the people. "In West Bengal alone, only 2,000 corneas are collected. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are ahead of Bengal in cornea collection", he said adding that further government assistance will provide vision to many more people.

When asked about his mission, 35-year-old Surojit said, "I won't be able to continue this work alone for long. People shoudl come forward if they really want people to get back their eyesight. Despite working for so may years, I have not received any government recognition. Even, the medical colleges have not taken any initiative to set up eye banks."

Dr Pravash Das- one of the doctors who helped Surojit to carry on his mission, said, "Surojit and his team travel in cycles to do this work. It is a tough task to deliver corneas from the remote areas of Rajbalhat to the Calcutta Medical College. People like Surojit need recognition to take this work ahead."