Almost one month since he underwent much-needed eye surgery, Lethem youth Vaughn Duncan is happy to say that he has recovered well and is back to living a normal life.
Speaking with Stabroek News from his hometown on Saturday, the young man related that the surgery had been a success and that he has since recovered.
Added to this, he wished to thank all those who attended to him while he was recovering including his landlord, sister and family friend.
“As of now, I’m better, and back to a normal life,” Duncan said.
Duncan’s need for financial assistance had been highlighted by Stabroek News in July after it came across a Facebook post by him, asking for persons to support a fundraiser aimed at securing funds for a much needed eye surgery.
Once contact was established with Duncan, the young man explained that he was diagnosed, with Keratoconus, a degenerative disease of the eye, by Dr. Neeraj Jain, at Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital, on April 12, 2017.
Keratoconus, often abbreviated to KC, is a degenerative eye disease in which the normally round cornea thins and begins to bulge into a cone-like shape, resulting in significant visual impairment.
According to Duncan, who was an Economics major at the University of Guyana, both of his eyes were affected, and based on consultations with the ophthalmologist, the impairment could only be halted by a onetime treatment, called Corneal Collagen Cross Linkage + Riboflavin (commonly called C3R) which could be done at the Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital, but at a cost of $576,000.
However, at that time, he was only able to secure a total of $180,000 towards the surgery.
Less than one week after the article was published by Stabroek News, Duncan was contacted by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital informing him that an anonymous donor had contacted the hospital and pledged the remaining amount for the surgery.
