Through the eyes of love

By DR. MINGUITA B. PADILLA

(Dr. Ma. Dominga "Minguita" B. Padilla is the founding and current president and chair of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines. For more information, you may contact the Eye Bank at any of the following nos. 893-5995, 893-4367, 0917-8935995 or visit their website at http://www.eyebankphilippines.org/ The Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. is accredited by the BIR through the Phil. Council for NGO Certification (PCNC). All corporate donations to the Eye Bank are fully tax deductible.)

In the early morning of Monday, December 29, 2003, a young actor accidentally fell to his death from a high rise building, and the nation was stunned. Miko Sotto was 21 years old, so promising, so handsome, so popular, and so loved by those who knew him. Then suddenly, he was gone. The death of this young man was indeed tragic, made even more so by some of the unkind and unfounded speculations surrounding the incident. Indeed, all would have seemed a total waste; a young soul called too early to leave this world in what appeared to be a meaningless death. This may well have been the ending to this story had Miko's mother Ali not made the decision to donate his corneas to the eye bank.

Because of this act, tragedy was overshadowed by hope, and tears of sorrow were soon intermingled with tears of joy. Because of a mother's refusal to allow her son to die a meaningless death, a child of five and a young woman of 20 had their sight restored, and millions of Filipinos who had long grown cynical and jaded, stood witness to a beautiful story that gave them reason to again believe that genuine acts of love still do exist.

And just as suddenly as Miko made his exit, the Eye Bank and its work of bringing sight to the blind were thrust into the collective consciousness of a nation.

The Santa Lucia International Eye Bank of Manila, or simply the Eye Bank, is an internationally recognized, state of the art, eye banking facility owned and operated by the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines. It is dedicated to the collection, processing, storage, and distribution of high quality transplantable eye tissue throughout the Philippines. We are able to distribute eye tissue around the country through the invaluable help of Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific. LBC and FEDEX. Because of this, Filipinos who need corneal transplants need not come to Manila. Eye surgeons from all over the archipelago need only call us and the tissue flies to them.

Since the start of its operations in 1996, the Eye Bank has harvested close to 6000 corneas and eyeballs from Filipino Donors. However, much of the tissue collected have come from medico-legal donors (unidentified and/or unaccompanied bodies for autopsy by the police) as provided by law, and not from "voluntary donors" simply because of the strong cultural resistance many Filipinos still have regarding organ or tissue donation. We had been featured on television, radio, and print many times before, but there was little impact on the attitude of Filipinos towards eye or cornea donations. All this changed however with the donation of Miko Sotto's corneas, the real life drama that ensued, and the media mileage this brought to the eye bank.

While it used to be that our transplant coordinators would have such a difficult time bringing up the possibility of eye or cornea donation with people, especially grieving families, we now even have parents of dying children, and adults who themselves are dying, calling the eye bank with the desire to donate their corneas or those of their loved ones upon death. Some have even gone to the extent of making provisions in their will so that not only would their eyes or corneas be donated to the eye bank, but some money as well to pay for the surgery of indigent patients who might receive their eyes or corneas.

While most families would, in the past, get offended at the thought of being asked about eye or cornea donation during their time of grief, many are now actually appreciative of being given the chance to do so. In many ways, cornea and eye donation has now become something to aspire for. And I cannot begin to express the gratitude those of us who have been working with the eye bank all these years feel as a result of all this.

Just how important is eye and cornea donation?

Corneal disease ranks among the top four causes of blindness in the Philippines. Corneal disease can be brought about by many things, the most common among them being infections and trauma to the eye, hereditary diseases that cause deformities to the cornea, congenital defects, and complications of eye surgeries. It affects young and old, rich and poor, male and female. Corneal blindness also carries a significant economic impact as many of its victims are young and are unable to find employment because of a remediable form of blindness.

It is estimated that at least 70,000 Filipinos may have the chance to have their eyesight restored through a corneal transplant. And corneal transplants can only be made possible though the donation of eyes or corneal tissue.

Why do we also need whole eyes? This is because aside from the cornea, we also use the sclera, or the white shell of the eyeball for certain surgical procedures that treat many eye problems like glaucoma and trauma.

Among the many important facts people discovered from the Miko Sotto event was that eyes and corneas could be donated after death, long after heartbeat and breathing had ceased. What surprised me was that even some doctors did not know this. Well, the fact is that corneas and eyeballs can be harvested up to 12 hours after death, even up to 18 hours if the body is refrigerated.

As a matter of fact, most of the harvesting actually takes place at funeral parlors and morgues, immediately before embalming. This makes it possible for us to partner with funeral homes such as Loyola Memorial Chapels, where clients are now routinely asked if they would "consider eye or corneal donation so that someone blind might see".

Before the eye bank started operations in 1996, those suffering from corneal blindness had little hope of ever having their sight restored. Much has changed since then. Our surgeons and their patients know that hope is just a phone call or a fax away and that they will get their tissue within two to three months of placing their call. Poverty is also no longer a hindrance to getting a corneal transplant because not only does the Eye Bank Foundation distribute eye tissue totally free of charge to all indigent patients, it also established a "Surgical Fund" in 1999 that helps finance the transplant surgeries themselves. ABS-CBN is a major contributor to this fund.

In recognition of the tremendous impact the donation of Miko Sotto's corneas had on the eye bank advocacy, we recently established a "Miko Sotto Memorial Fund" that will be dedicated to the processing of eye tissue for indigents as well as public education and information.

While much has been achieved the work that lies ahead is endless. In the year 2003 alone we harvested 850 corneas and eyeballs, a respectable number by any standard, but a drop in the bucket considering the need for corneal tissue. It is our goal to hit a thousand this year. To do this however, we will have to train more health professionals in the science of eye tissue harvesting and in the art of family counseling. We also hope to open more eye and corneal retrieval facilities around the country to respond to the growing number of Filipinos who wish to donate.

Finally, we are determined to sustain a public information campaign and continue to build on the priceless gift we have received from a young man and his courageous mother who opened the eyes of a nation.

With God's providence and with the support of generous hearts, all these will come to pass.

:: Bing Saturday, February 21, 2004 [+] ::
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