Rotary Eye Rescue
TBI Thanks Rotary for Restoring Sight for Three
Three young people in Yemen have had the miracle of restored sight due to our efforts at this year's Polar Plunge in February, 2013. Traudy Grande, Plunge Chair, presented our check for $6000 to the Tissue Banks International (TBI) foundation trustees. This was the 5th year of the Rotary Eye Rescue Program, and the Polar Plunge that supports it, and brings our total donation since 2008 to $40,000. Halima, 16, Rahma, 25, and Saleh, 22, all of Yemen, were relieved from a condition called Keratoconus. Dr. Mahtouth A. Bamashmus, Associate professor of Opthamology, performed the operations at Yemen Magabi Hospital.
Traudy (3rd from left) presents check to TBI Foundation Trustees
Click below to learn more about Keratoconus, meet the young ladies we helped and read the TBI Letter of Thanks:
Keratoconus is a degenerative disorder of the eye in which structural changes within the cornea cause it to thin and change to a more conical shape than its normal gradual curve.
Keratoconus can cause substantial distortion of vision, with multiple images, streaking and sensitivity to light all often reported by the patient. It is typically diagnosed in the patient's adolescent years. If afflicting both eyes, the deterioration in vision can affect the patient's ability to drive a car or read normal print.
In most cases, corrective lenses fitted by a specialist are effective enough to allow the patient to continue to drive legally and likewise function normally. Further progression of the disease may require surgery, for which several options are available, including intrastromal corneal ring segments, cross-linking, mini asymmetric radial keratotomy and, in 25% of cases, corneal transplantation.
Halima,16
Rahma, 25
Saleh, 22
