Afsana

Hyderabad, India

Age 6

It’s a sight most of us take for granted, but the first time Afsana saw her father’s face, she was so overcome with emotion, she cried. Born with limited vision, for her first four years she could only marginally see things in extreme close-up. But when she was four, Afsana had an Optical PK – Penetrating Keratoplasty - on her right eye. PK is one of the most common types of corneal transplant surgeries in India, where she lives. In this procedure, surgeons remove a disk at the center of the diseased cornea, and replace it with a healthy transplant.

At an age when most children are thrusting far out into the world around them, her world, even with improved vision, only had a radius of 10 meters, a little over 30 feet. Still, that was a huge improvement. But then, her other eye started to deteriorate. Afsana asked her parents if she could have surgery on that left eye.

Doctors at the L V Prasad Eye Institute performed the procedure. Our job, at SightLife is to work with L V Prasad’s eye bank to help them increase the number of corneas made available for transplant. Even through the pain after the second surgery, Afsana never complained. The doctors say her smile, and bright spirit, lit them up whenever she came into a room. Her prognosis is likely quite good.

That bright spirit is growing: Afsana, who is now nine years old, is quite smart, and loves dancing and big family gatherings. With her improved eyesight, she enjoys watching The Disney Channel and The Discovery Channel. From watching nature shows, she has developed a love of, and fascination with, monkeys. As you read this, she is most likely in school with her peers, something she would not have been able to do with her vision as it was before the surgery.

Her father says she has a great memory, and forgets absolutely nothing. That’s apparently true – while he remains a towering hero to her, she quite candidly says he was more handsome when he married her mother than he is now.