Free surgeries help Anupama restore sight

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Anupama, the 20-year-old nursing student, realized that she has regained the sight of her left eye as she closed her right eye with her palm and opened the other eye to see her mother sitting just opposite to the bed.
Anupama T A, a first semester nursing student at Junior Public Health Nursing School at Thycaud, lost the sight of her left eye in a freak accident happened at her college recently.On Saturday, doctors declared that her sight is normal after performing three surgeries on the left eye.
She lost her eyesight when her classmate Abhija tried to pump out water at her using a syringe. Anupama, asked her classmate to remain silent in the class as per the direction from her teacher.
"As the laboratory class was going on, she took a syringe filled with water and tried to pump out the water when the needle suddenly came off and hit my left eye and pierced in," Anupama said. Thampanoor police also registered a case on the basis of the complaint registered by Anupama's family.
According to the surgeon, after piercing the cornea, the needle broke the lens and got stuck at the retina and only the plastic portion at the tip of the syringe was left outside. "As the needle pierced deeply, she completely lost the sight of her left eye. We performed three surgeries –cornea tear repair, vitrectomy and cataract– to regain her sight," Dr Ashad Sivaraman of Precise Specialty Eye Care Hospital said.
Anupama, a native of Vithura, hails from a financially backward family. Her mother Ajitha T A is an MGNREGA labourer. Anupama's elder sister Arunima is a TTC student and works part time as a sales girl at a textile shop.
Knowing that the family can't afford to the treatment, the hospital management offered free treatment to her.
"Initially, we took her to Govt Eye Hospital, where the doctors said that the treatment will be costly. Fortunately the Precise hospital authorities offered us free treatment," Anupama's uncle Ajay Ghosh said.
"While I was working at a hospital in Tamil Nadu, we carried out several such surgeries as social service. This too was a similar initiative. Moreover, she is a nursing student," Dr Ashad said. The hospital has also offered Anupama a job once she completes the course.