Hundreds get free cataract surgeries

For Marcia Freeman from Christiana in Manchester, receiving free cataract surgery from the Mind, Body and Soul Ministry (MBSM) over the weekend at the Mandeville Regional Hospital was an awesome experience.

"Losing your eyesight is not a good thing. This (the surgery) is a very good thing, and I wish it was done every week," Freeman told CENTRAL STAR on Monday morning.

She was waiting for the bandage to be removed from her left eye, having done the surgery on her right eye two years ago.

Between April 27 and 29, some 365 free cataract surgeries were performed on residents of Manchester, Clarendon, St Ann, St Elizabeth, and as far as St James at the Mandeville Regional Hospital's eye clinic.

By 9 a.m. Monday, scores of patients were waiting patiently either for their surgeries to be performed or for their bandages to be removed from the previous day's operation.

Everyone sat calmly waiting their turn as the team of medical personnel from overseas performed surgeries inside.

Freeman said it got to a point where everything was a blur and she could not see people, buildings or vegetation. She added that following the first surgery, she could see clearly when the bandage came off the next day, so she is looking forward to similar results.

She said she also complied with instructions to be careful by doing no heavy lifting, no driving and no bending for six weeks post-surgery.

David Augustus, 32, who hails from Middle Quarters in St Elizabeth, received a blow to his head last year, which led to the cataract in his right eye.

"I can only see clearly out of my left eye; everything is just a white mass or shadows in my damaged eye. I did my surgery yesterday (Sunday), so I am anxiously waiting to see when they take off the bandage today," he said.

Veronica Spence travelled from Portland Cottage in Clarendon to get her remaining cataract removed. She said she was diagnosed with cataracts in Canada six years ago but delayed her surgery. She wears prescription glasses, and although she changes them regularly, she still required surgery.

"I heard about this programme since I came home, and when I did the first eye and the bandage came off, it was like a whole new world. It has made a great difference, and I can't wait till the bandage comes off," she told CENTRAL STAR, adding that she will still wear her glasses for astigmatism.

The surgeries were made possible through a collaboration between the Florida-based MBSM and the Kiran and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation.

This is the fifth year of the health mission to Jamaica, and collaboration was done with the Mandeville Eye Clinic and consultant at the Ophthalmology Department of the hospital, Dr Gavin Henry.