Dr Msukwa starts to take off Winesi’s bandages. Winesi has been blind for more than two years. As his bandages are removed, we watch (through fingers) to see if his sight has been restored following his cataract surgery.
Winesi has never seen his grandson Luka. He hasn’t been able to work and support his family, he’s had to rely on his wife in order to leave the house, even cooking a meal has been a huge challenge.
This wasn’t just a procedure; this was life-transforming surgery for Winesi and his family.
For them, this was a miracle.
In many countries, removing a cataract is a straightforward procedure available to almost anyone who needs it. In developing countries this is not the case. Although cataracts can easily be treated, they are responsible for 51 per cent of world blindness – that’s around 20 million people.
The problem isn’t just cost, it’s also finding the patients. Many people with eye conditions live in remote, rural villages miles from any hospital and aren’t even aware treatment is available.
And being blind in a developing country is a whole different ball game.
Families can find themselves spiralling deeper into poverty. They may be unable to work and unable to support themselves. Children might be excluded from school or find themselves as the primary caregiver at home. Life just becomes a lot more difficult.
This is where A Million Miracles comes in…
We’ve set ourselves a challenge. It’s a big one. Over the next three years we want to fund one million sight-restoring operations for people living in some of the poorest parts of the world. It might sound like a long shot, but with your help we can do it.
This is Winesi March. His operation was our first miracle.
When he went blind his biggest concern was feeding his wife, children and grandchildren. In the past he supported the family working on a farm, but his blindness meant he had to stay at home and his wife Namaleta had to take on all the work herself.
For Winesi’s wife Namaleta, life became increasingly difficult. She had the strain of supporting the family while taking care of her husband. As she said before Winesi’s operation:
“I am so affected because I relied on him so much, to provide for the family, but now he can’t do anything. I have to do everything - finding food, making sure the children go to school. It’s painful having to do both roles. I would be so excited and so relieved to get back to normal life.”
On 8 October 2014, Winesi’s life changed forever.
It took Dr Msukwa around seven minutes to restore Winesi’s sight. Captured on camera, it was incredible to see how a £30 procedure could give a person back their vision.
The next day, it was time for Winesi’s bandages to be removed. The look on his face as he realised he could see again, and saw his family was so full of joy you have to see it for yourself…
Through a wide grin Winesi said: “Now I can see I can go back to my business. I want to get back to work on my farm and start cooking again and doing everything. When I saw my wife today I thought to myself, ‘I am meeting her twice. I am born again.’ I never imagined how Luka would look. I‘m so happy to see him. I said ‘Ah this is how looks!’”.
After more than two years of blindness, you can only imagine the joy that erupted in the ward when Winesi exclaimed to his family that he could see!
A week after his operation, Winesi was blissfully working again and doing all the things he’d found difficult when he was blind:
“It‘s been more than two years since I last cooked. I really missed being able to do it because there were times when my wife would be away and I knew there was food available to eat, but I couldn‘t see to prepare it, so I would go hungry. Now I won’t have that problem anymore.”