State of the art technology has been donated by Devon opticians to help save the sight of people living in a war-torn part of the Far East.
Staff at the Specsavers Honiton store were recently approached by Dr Phillip Ambler, who told them about the plight of thousands of people being driven from their homes by ongoing attacks from the army in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Dr Ambler, who volunteers through a charity, Fiona’s Eye Fund, explained that many people’s suffering on the Myanmar-Thai border can be alleviated if they have access to cataract surgery.
So the High Street staff offered to provide a hand-held keratometer, which is used to take precise measurements of a patient’s eye before their sightsaving operations.
Dr Ambler, who lives in Axminster, says: ‘We’re intensely grateful to Specsavers Honiton for the donation of this essential equipment. Fiona’s Eye Fund is a very small charity doing life-changing work, and we simply wouldn’t be able to afford equipment like this.
‘The equipment gives us very accurate feedback rather than us guessing, meaning that we can be sure that the patient’s sight will be in focus after surgery.
‘If one person loses their sight, another has to look after them, so you’re then losing two people out of their limited economy, which in turn affects whole families.
‘So this device will have a phenomenal effect not only on individual lives but also on whole communities.’
Dr Ambler first went to Burma in 1990. Since then, he and his colleagues have treated thousands of people’seye problems, with many sight-saving cataract surgeries having been performed.
In addition, local people have been trained up to support the work, enabling more treatments to be undertaken regularly.
Farrah Chaudhry, director at Specsavers Honiton, says: ‘We’re delighted to be able to donate this equipment to Dr Ambler and his colleagues.
‘The work they’re doing under very difficult circumstances is incredible. They really are making a difference to people’s lives, and we’re so pleased to be playing a small part in assisting with that.’
Specsavers Honiton store provides eye health and hearing services. It is open seven days a week and can be contacted on 01395 277107.
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