BAHAMIAN THREE-YEAR OLD SEES FOR THE FIRST TIME THANKS TO CORNEA TRANSPLANT

September 2010, New York, NY – On August 13, 2010, three-year old Tavi Collins, saw for the first time in his young life all because of a cornea transplant operation performed by Gerald Zaidman, M.D. of Westchester Medical Center with donor eye tissue provided by The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration located in New York City.

Tavi had been born with Peters’ Anomaly, an eye disease in which the central part of the cornea, the clear outer covering of the eye, becomes hazy and white obstructing light from entering the eye and preventing normal vision. At birth, Tavi’s mother, Elna, who lives in Nassau, Bahamas, noticed his opaque eyes and realized that he could not see. After consulting with an ophthalmologist in the Bahamas she was told her son needed cornea transplants to both eyes.

Elna confesses that she knew nothing about the procedure. In her lack of understanding, Elna offered to give her own corneas – she was ready and willing to do whatever was necessary to make sure her son would see. However, after her doctor explained that the donated corneas come from deceased patients, she felt helpless. She was even more distraught to learn that there were no corneas available in the Bahamas since there was no eye bank to recover them, nor was the transplant surgery performed in her country.

Elna and her husband, Tavares, initially sought help in Miami, Florida. Elna was obliged to resign her job as a legal secretary as she traveled periodically to Miami for the next two years with the hope that her son would receive sight-restoring corneal transplant surgeries. However, the medical team there did not agree on the course of treatment and Tavi’s condition remained the same.

Through a lucky chain of events, Elna was given the name of Dr. Gerald Zaidman, ophthalmologist and corneal surgeon at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York. After reviewing Tavi’s medical records, Dr. Zaidman recommended that Tavi would most likely benefit from a cornea transplant.

Unfortunately, the family’s funds had been depleted and they now had to raise money to cover the expenses that would be incurred. Via the media, Elna and her husband appealed to the Bahamian community to assist with medical and travel expenses and established a bank account for donations. They also rolled up their sleeves and put photos of Tavi on large water bottles and collected donations from the public. These efforts finally paid off.

On August 12, 2010, Dr. Zaidman performed the cornea transplant surgery on Tavi’s right eye at Westchester Medical Center with donor eye tissue provided by The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration. On the following day at Dr. Zaidman’s office, Elna was allowed to remove the bandages from her son’s eyes. She broke into cries of joy and gratitude after her son looked directly at her and began looking around the room. Both she and her daughter, who was with her at the time, sobbed and thanked Dr. Zaidman as they realized Tavi could see. He now reaches for the toy held in front of him instead of their having to place it in his hands. Elna says she feels “on top of the world!”

Elna and her family are eternally grateful to Dr. Zaidman for restoring Tavi’s sight. They appreciate his skill as a surgeon and more so, his compassion. They are especially grateful to everyone who helped them along this journey and feel indebted to the eye donor who gave the “gift of sight” to The Eye-Bank so their three-year old boy could have a bright future.

Marilyn Oliver
moliver@ebsr.org or
Noel Mick
nmick@ebsr.org
212-742-9000