Some of the great personalities who have made their names immortal in their mortal lives prove their greatness even when they depart this world.
Leaders, artists and great personalities including the pioneer of Indian communism Jyoti Basu, Karnataka cine star Dr Rajkumar who left thousands grieving their deaths managed to deliver a strong message even after breathing their last by taking up the noble cause of eye donation.
Other famous personalities who have pledged their eyes include Bollywood actress Raveena Tandoon, beauty queen Aishwarya Rai and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.
Besides the fanfare and frenzy, the commoners of India should seriously consider following their icons for the characteristics which make them great.
So why not start with eye donation?
Why donate?An estimated 15 million Indians suffer from blindness and different types of visual impairment.
The eyes procured from donors are used to cure corneal blindness, apart from being used for medical research and study.
Estimated 6.8 million people suffer from corneal blindness in India.
Corneal blindness refers to the condition when one's cornea, which is the transparent and thin outer layer of the eye becomes clouded due to injuries, infections, nutrition deficiency especially in childhood, chemical burns, and post operative complications.
Who can donate?Almost everybody above age of 1 year can pledge to donate their eyes. It doesn't matter if the deceased has medical history of hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis.
It doesn't matter if the donor had cataract surgery or even wears or wore spectacles.
How to pledge?People who wish to pledge their eyes can approach the nearest Eye Bank and fill up a Eye Pledge form.
The form needs to be filled with the correct details and signed by one or two witnesses. After this, the eye bank people will issue a Donor card that has contact details of the eye bank.
At the time of death, the person's family or friends are expected quickly contact the eye bank and inform the bank of the demise of the donor.
After deathEven if the deceased has not plegded to donate eyes, the relatives of the person can give consent for this.
Special number 1919 (BSNL) has been allotted for eye banks across the country. Once contacted the eye bank sends its team to collect the eyes.
Nearest eye banks can also be contacted for this.
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