Last day of year lights up lives of 11 tribals

KALYAN: The last day of 2018 brought a new dawn for 11 visually challenged people, including three centenarians. On Monday, they got their vision back after an NGO recently conducted surgeries to restore their eyesight.
Besides the three centenarians, the remaining eight are 65 years old and above. All the patients are tribals and, due to poverty, could not get their cataract operations done on time.

The surgeries were conducted at Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar. The joy on the faces of the patients at regaining their eyesight was a heart-warming sight.

The surgeries were facilitated through the NGO run by Sakib Gore. Gore, a Badlapur resident, who has been working for the visually challenged for the past 23 years, said he has distributed over eight lakh spectacles to the needy from villages in Murbad, Shahapur and Kalyan talukas.

Gore said his NGO has enabled operations for nine lakh people. Of these, he has paid from his pocket for 43,000 surgeries, he said.

Talking to TOI, Avdi Mengal, 105, said, "I lost my eyesight around 8-10 years ago, but I will be now able to see my grandchildren again."

Kashibai, 102, said, "As we are very poor, we could not manage to get our cataract surgeries done and had to live in the dark for many years. We have now got our vision back thanks to Gore."