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Thursday August 24, 2006

Carrying on ex-PM’s vision

KOH Moi Chew was a 27-year-old accounts clerk in Seremban who was just enjoying her career, when one day her eyes became bloodshot and teary.

Her vision was affected and she consulted doctors at the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital (Thoneh) in Petaling Jaya in 1986. That was when she discovered she had cornea ulcer in both eyes.

Not only had did she have to quit her job because of her deteriorating eyesight, doing things she used to take for granted, such as housework and reading, became difficult.

But three years later, thanks to the expertise available in the hospital, she underwent cornea transplant with donated cornea from Sri Lanka.

A nurse applying eye drops into Perumal’s eyes. Looking on are (from left) medical director Datuk Prof. Dr Veera Ramani, Suraiya and the three other longest patients, Wanidah, Koh Moi Chew and Aminah Tok Muda Awang. They were at the hospital's 20th anniversary celebrations.
She has since undergone seven operations on both eyes as the cornea deteriorate after about three years.

“Despite this, I am ever so grateful for any opportunity to gain better eyesight,” said Koh, 47, a housewife who could, after the surgery, continue watching her favourite soaps on TV.

She was one of Thoneh's four longest patients who were presented gifts at its 20th anniversary celebration last Tuesday.

Wanidah Chandrasekaran, 26, from Nilai in Negri Sembilan, has also been making visits to Thoneh for 20 years since she was first diagnosed with cataracts at the age of six.

“After undergoing surgery to remove the cataract, I wore really thick glasses for 10 years before I started wearing contact lenses. When I was 22, I had lenses implanted (intra ocular implant) and now I can see far and near, without any problem,” said the housewife.

Another success story was milk vendor P. Perumal, 57, also from Seremban, who became partially blind when acid was splashed on his face on Dec 26, 2002.

He had eight eye operations but they did little to restore his sight. “For three years and three months, my world was a blur,” said Perumal.

On March 25 this year, he became the hospital’s and the country’s first patient to undergo keratoprostisis (artifical cornea implant), aided by a specialist from Mumbai.

“Now I can read and walk unaided,” he said, beaming.

The oldest patient is Aminah Tok Muda Awang, 76, from Subang Jaya, who suffered from cataract.

The anniversary celebration was launched by Puan Sri Dr Suraiya Hani Hussein, daughter of the late Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia’s third Prime Minister.

Suraiya said her late father, who was Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) president from 1975 to 1990, was always passionate about the affairs of the blind.

“He said that sight is man's most important sense,” she said, adding that he was always keen on raising funds for the hospital, which was a charitable organisation.

“As a young medical student, I recall him talking passionately about the hospital to would-be donors.

“Despite his busy schedule as Prime Minister, he would make sure he attended ceremonies to present donations to Thoneh because he said the donors would donate more if the Prime Minister was present,” she quipped.

Hussein, she said, would have been proud of the achievements by the hospital which was set up by the MAB in 1986 in response to the dire need for a dedicated eye hospital with state-of-the-art eye care.

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