Lata Rawat: Second Time Lucky

In the normal course of life, we take eyes for granted. It is only when we are in danger of losing them that we realise how integral a part of our lives they are. Who else can illustrate this better than Lata Rawat, a 29 year old corneal recipient, whose life is coming back on track after her recent transplant surgery? Today she cannot thank the donors enough….in the plural because she has had two corneal transplants.

Lata belongs to village Vedikhal, District Pauri, Garhwal. She came to Delhi in the year 2000, after marrying Dinesh Rawat, who works with a company supplying medical equipment. She was an efficient housewife, who spent some time of the year in her village at the time of harvest, as her in-laws needed extra hands around that time.

In September 2004 Lata went to the village to give a helping hand to her in-laws in harvesting paddy. While she was busy working in the fields, something got into her left eye. Not taking it seriously, Lata carried on with her work. The next day when she woke up she found that her eye was red and painful. When Lata complained to her mother-in-law, she brushed her off thinking that Lata was making excuses to shirk work. Her father, a homeopath in the same village, gave Lata some medicine which provided temporary relief. However, the redness recurred, this time accompanied by swelling. Lata convinced her in-laws to let her return to Delhi. Once in Delhi, her husband, Dinesh, took her to the an Eye Hospital, where the doctors suggested that a she needed corneal transplant urgently.

They got in touch with Venu Eye Institute and she was called for a check-up without delay. She was examined by Dr. Ashu Agarwal, corneal surgeon, who told her that she had a scar on the cornea and could benefit from a type of corneal transplantation called Lamellar Keratoplasty. In this technique only the front90 percent of the recipient cornea is replaced with a healthy donor cornea. She was registered for a corneal transplant in March 2005.

This was the time that the ORBIS DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital was in Delhi (10th-20th March 2005), ORBIS was co-hosting a training programme, along with Venu and some other eye hospitals. As part of this training programme, surgeries were being conducted on the plane. As a suitable, healthy cornea became was available just then, Lata was called in for her surgery. Unfortunately, Lata had an unusual complication due to which her entire graft melted within two weeks.

Lata was despondent and her depression was evident. But as luck would have it a suitable cornea was received soon at Venu. She was operated upon once again on 29th March 2005. Subsequent check-ups, which have been frequent, have proved to be satisfactory. Sight is returning to her, even though slowly.

Lata is filled with a sense of thankfulness to the donor whose eyes have given her sight.