By Sudheer Chemudugunta | Focus-AP Coordinator
Our hospital helps Mr. Perumal
The story of Perumal is similar to that of many underprivileged men in India whose entire families live off of their meager income.
Born into a family of farmers, Perumal began farming at the age of ten, memorizing the rows of corn that stood tall above his head. As Perumal began learning the ways of the fields, his father began to lose his eyesight to an unseemly cataract, forcing Perumal to learn faster. As the years wore on, Perumal’s father lost all vision in his left eye and was quickly losing vision in his right. Perumal’s life was changed forever as his father became blind and the responsibility of the family fell on his shoulders.
A few years after Perumal’s father died in a tragic farming accident, Perumal was married and having six children. Surviving on his meager, seasonal income became even harder when, at 64 years old, Perumal began to lose his eyesight to cataract. As the rows of corn that he had once memorized and run through faded away, so did Perumal’s hope of being able to support his family.
He worked through the cataract for three years, due to his financial constraints to go to a doctor. At that point of time, one of his neighbors informed him about the Eye camps being conducted by Sankara Eye Hospital, Coimbatore and they do free eye surgeries to those who are not able to afford them. Immediately he attended the eye camp in the nearby village in Dharmapuri and he was diagnosed Cataract in his left Eye and was brought to the base hospital. Realizing that this was an opportunity to see again, he went to the hospital with a renewed hope of being able to support his family.
Perumal was operated on the 17th July 2013 and was taken back to his village where he was able to farm and tend to his animals without any problems. He began to teach his son the way of the farms and was thankful that he wouldn’t have to turn over all the responsibilities to his son.
Without the doctors of Sankara Eye Hospital, Coimbatore, I would not have seen this world again, says the happiest Perumal.
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