"You gave me my life back."
That’s how Becky Moss began a thank-you note for the 白内障 surgery she received at no cost from the 约翰一. 莫兰眼科中心 that restored her 愿景—and her will to live.
She was one of 17 Utahns in need who received free 白内障 surgery on Saturday, 1月12日, as part of 莫兰眼科中心’s twice-yearly 视光日行动.
Doctors identify patients for the events through charitable health clinics including the Fourth Street Clinic, Moran’s Hope in Sight Refugee Eye Care Clinic, and Salt Lake City’s Project Homeless Connect.
A 白内障, a clouding of the naturally transparent lens of the eye, blurs and dulls 愿景 and can eventually lead to blindness. 在外科手术中, a doctor removes the clouded lens and inserts a clear artificial one, 也就是人工晶体, 在它的位置.
Restoring sight, restoring hope
"This is such an amazing thing they do,” Moss. "There was no way I could afford this."
Moss described herself as "completely blind" and facing homelessness—a prospect that left her suicidal—before 白内障 surgery in her right eye at 视光日行动 in June. That first surgery restored her hope in life, she wrote in her poignant thank-you note.
Now after 白内障 surgery for her left eye, Moss talked about putting "this amazing gift" to great use.
"I see a coffeemaker; I see people’s faces; I see detail," she said excitedly from her bed in the recovery room. "I can now get a job. 我能安全驾驶. 真是令人惊叹."
Helping Utahns in need
理查德Schoenfeld, another 视光日行动 patient, called his restored 愿景 "miraculous" after 白内障 surgery in his right eye.
He said he’d been struggling in a "fog" the last nine and a half months. "Sometimes, when it’s blurry and foggy, you don’t want to look at the world anymore," he said.
亚伯加维兰, a 75-year-old homeless man receiving services at the Road Home shelter in Salt Lake City, was looking forward to being able to see animals again and to read his Bible.
加维兰, who worked with and cared for horses most of his life, lost sight in one eye when a horse kicked him. Cataracts stole 愿景 in his other eye.
社区的努力
University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins joined Moran CEO Randall J Olson to meet with patients and observe surgery at 视光日行动, one of several local 外展 efforts by Moran’s 全球 Outreach Di愿景.
"It’s important that we, as a community working together, step up to fill access gaps in our health care system,” 杰夫·佩蒂，医学博士, 外展 di愿景 co-medical director. "When we assist people who are chronically underserved, we’re transforming families and supporting our state economy by getting people back to work and school."
A 2013 report by Prevent Blindness America placed the total economic burden of eye disorders and 愿景 loss in the United States at $139 billion. In Utah, that translates into $1 to $2 billion annually.
视光日行动 was only possible thanks to generous donors, including presenting sponsor Grandeur Peak 全球 Advisors of Salt Lake City.
The Eye Institute of Utah in Salt Lake City, the St. 乔治眼科中心, 特伦特·理查兹, MD, of the Tanner Clinic in Davis County are also restoring 愿景 to additional patients in partnership with Moran. The 莫兰眼科中心 alone has restored sight to nearly 200 Utahns through Operation Sight.
Moran surgeons donating their skills were Alan S. 克兰德尔博士; 艾米林，医学博士; 雷切尔克. 辛普森博士; and Pettey. More than 40 additional Moran medical personnel and 工作人员 volunteered their time for 视光日行动.
Moran residents and University of Utah medical students created a charity surgery day with volunteer physicians, 工作人员, 护士, and technicians in 2012. The event was adopted as a national model by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Foundation’s Operation Sight network.