Ms. To Thi Tham (Khanh Thuy commune, Yen Khanh district) has had a corneal disease since she was 12 years old. Growing up, someone loved her, sympathized with her and married her. The young couple had 2 children. Over the years, Ms. Tham has personally taken care of her children with the vagueness of light. Ms. Tham has never stopped longing to see everything, see her loved ones, see the hustle and bustle of life... But that is still a distant dream.
But the miracle happened. In 2019, Ms. Tham received her first corneal transplant. In 2020, Ms. Tham continued to receive a corneal transplant in her other eye. When the doctor removed the eye bandage after the corneal transplant surgery, the first image Ms. Tham saw was her husband and two young children. The children have grown up, are beautiful and obedient, Ms. Tham was able to continue her dream with her husband to build a happy family, raising good children with bright, clear eyes.
"I have seen life through a pair of corneas donated by a kind person. My life has turned a new page, bright, optimistic and beautiful. I will try to live the most meaningful and happiest life to repay the noble hearts of the deceased. I hope that, with the noble deeds of the deceased, there will be many more people with corneal diseases who can find the light like me" - Ms. Tham was moved.
The story of the journey to find light, the confidences from Ms. Tham's heart brought strong emotions to many families with relatives who donated corneas present at the hall of the Ceremony to honor "The noble gesture of cornea donors" organized by the Ministry of Health, the Central Eye Hospital in coordination with the Provincial People's Committee, the People's Committee of Kim Son district recently, including Mr. Dinh Van Hai in Kim Dong commune - one of the representatives of the families with cornea donors honored this time.
Mr. Hai said: Since he found out he had cancer, my father had a wish to donate his corneas after he passed away. That was his wish, but because there were 5 brothers and sisters in the family, the implementation of that wish also had to be discussed and agreed upon. With the timely encouragement of the Red Cross Society of the commune, my brothers and sisters also agreed. With the corneas left by my father, I hope to have a new life revived. I myself will also register to donate my corneas in the near future.
According to data from the Central Eye Hospital, currently in our country there are tens of thousands of people who are still living blind due to corneal diseases. Those unfortunate people will have to live blind like that if there is no cornea to replace.
Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Ngoc Dong, Deputy Director of the Central Eye Hospital, said: Corneal transplantation techniques to help people who are unfortunately blind due to corneal diseases regain their sight have been performed for a long time in the world as well as in Vietnam. However, the most difficult problem is that the source of corneas for surgery is still limited. The number of corneas that the Central Eye Hospital receives each year is still not enough compared to the number of patients waiting for transplants. This is also a common difficulty in the world and especially in Vietnam - where for thousands of years the prejudice of dying with the body intact has been deeply ingrained in the subconscious and ideology. However, thanks to good propaganda and mobilization work, in recent times, more people have participated in cornea donation.
Since April 5, 2007, after the first cornea donation in the country by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoa in Con Thoi commune, Kim Son district, up to now, the whole country has had over 963 cornea donors from 20 provinces and cities nationwide, in which Ninh Binh province has the leading number of donors in the country with nearly 500. people. Kim Son district alone had 417 donors. In December 2023 alone, out of 4 corneal donations nationwide, Ninh Binh province had 1 case.
With the achieved results, Ninh Binh province in general and Kim Son district in particular have become a bright spot, a leading unit in the country in the cornea donation movement. Mr. Nguyen Cao Son, Vice Chairman of Kim Son District People's Committee said: In order to have knowledge in propaganda and mobilization of cornea donation, the locality has coordinated with the Vietnam Eye Bank to organize training courses on improving knowledge and communication skills to mobilize cornea donation for thousands of volunteers. Among those volunteers are priests, wardens, chiefs, dignitaries, Catholic officials, Venerable monks, Venerable monks, Venerable monks, Buddhist monks and nuns in the district.
In addition, the District Red Cross regularly organizes propaganda and calls for cornea donation upon death on the district and commune radio systems as well as combines propaganda in residential meetings. In addition, Red Cross volunteers also go to households to mobilize and advise people on the humanitarian and noble meaning of the program, as well as explain the things that people are interested in about donating human organs, including cornea donation.
The District Red Cross also assigned volunteers to be in charge of residential areas, to have a firm grasp of subjects such as the elderly and people with serious illnesses, to have appropriate methods and approaches, to regularly be close to and share difficulties and problems with cornea donation with families. Propaganda in many forms has made people understand the noble humanitarian and humane meaning of the program, thereby enthusiastically responding to participate and mobilizing descendants in the family to participate.
From 2007 to now, Kim Son district has promoted and mobilized over 12 thousand people to register to donate corneas upon death. Currently, 417 people have successfully donated corneas, bringing precious light to hundreds of blind people, who can now see normally like everyone else, bringing joy and happiness to themselves, their families and the community. Typical units that have done a good job of promoting and mobilizing cornea donation are: Con Thoi Commune, Van Hai, Kim My, Dinh Hoa, Kim Tan, Kim Dinh...
Dao Hang-Minh Quang
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