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Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP
In this Oct. 16, 2011 photo, a worker at the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society holds three corneas in bottles with preservatives, ready to be sent abroad, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At 10:25 a.m., a dark brown eye was removed from a man whose lids had closed for the last time. Five hours later, the orb was staring up at the ceiling from a stainless steel tray in an operating room with two blind patients — both waiting to give it a second life.
S.P.D. Siriwardana, 63, remained still under a white sheet as the surgeon delicately replaced the cornea that had gone bad in his right eye following a cataract surgery. Across the room, patient A.K. Premathilake, 32, waited for the sclera, the white of the eye, to provide precious stem cells and restore some vision after acid scalded his sight away on the job.
"The eye from this dead person was transplanted to my son," said A.K. Admon Singho, who guided Premathilake through the hall after the surgery. "He's dead, but he's still alive. His eye can still see the world."
Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP
In this Nov. 4, 2011 photo, people wait in a line to get their eyes examined as a staffer, foreground, examines the eye of a cataract patient at the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP
In this Nov. 2, 2011 photo, a worker with the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society holds a parcel containing corneas ready to be sent abroad in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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Organs traficking is growing.. People in many poor countries are now killed for their organs.
We live in a crazy world !
Cheapened largely by people who can't comprehend a short article or who won't read the related story.
Did we read the same article(s), Poodlefan? There are living people in Sri Lanka who want to donate one of their eyes out of sheer generosity. This is not a trafficking issue.
Plus I read the donors with both dead, which brings up an important question, does your drivers license say your a donor? If not, why?
I agree with you crying shame. Out of compassion to fellow human being and gaining merits is what these people are doing in Sri Lanka. The West are ignorant about altruism and good deeds to their fellowmen. Nothing reign in the west except greed and ignorant.
Actually, that is not true at all. The "West" leads the world in organ donations. It is virtually unheard of in many parts of the "East," in large part due to cultural issues in how the dead are treated. Google "world wide organ donations" and you can get the stats. There was an article a few years ago about how Spain, the UK, the US, lead the world, with several countries in Europe having presumed consent laws (in other words, you need to opt out, rather than opt in). And, yes, I am listed as an organ donor for when I die.
SpaceGal, don't read too much into stats. The fact that Spain has 34 organ donors per million population and leads the table does not make it great. The reason why such a low number of donations has topped the "rankings" is because (1) many eastern countries including these 3rd world countries are not included in the surveys (2) It is hard to get data from them. Also, don't forget that western countries usually have sophisticated health care systems that facilitate organ donation with ease whereas 3rd world countries go through much trouble to perform the same task creating friction towards donating. And also, there are misinterpretations like "In Japan, the law prevents children from donating organs, but there is also an overall reluctance to donate organs that is rooted in Shinto and Buddhist attitudes towards death" reported in western media. In fact, in Buddhism you are encouraged to donate your organs. While I must say that people are thankful for the donations western countries make, there is much room for improvement.
Yes, statistics are somewhat meaningless as they can be twisted countless ways, and that survey didn't include third world countries. I was just trying to point out that altruism was more common than the original poster suggested. And I agree 100%, there is room for improvement nearly everywhere.
Oh, eye see.
Lost Sri Lankan people donate organs just to help out the people in need. They don’t charge any money for it. Most people write in their last will to donate their eyes or whatever organs that can be used. Infact they are the world last eye donors. There is no trafficking, Just generosity.
eye eye eye --- that's a stretch
Hello spaceGal,
This is not a "race" or a "who is better than" conversation. Please, those
of you from the USA, simply stand-down and note that "others" are contributing
to the USA, just as we believe we are doing the same for others. Sometimes
saying "thank you" might help instead of trying to "prove yourself".
There are many things that will "test you" as a Human Being, what your Heart
says and does, is a major concept that leads to a Path of integration or denegration.
It's not just because there is choice, but because there is a way to Create a place
that integrates "the many" versus "the few". Looking at Populations as an indicator,
the USA is among "the few".
In the meantime, Blessings to you should you actually
get it, that someone is willing to help people from the
USA, in spite of all the people here who are ready and
waiting to "make money" off the same situation (and
yes they are the doctors, hospitals, etc.) who really
should be offering the same kind of generosity as these
people from India.
But they do not--
Here's to all the people who are blinded whether from
age related disease or other, may we find our way to
help them.
C_P
You're correct. I never meant to imply any one country/region/whatever was better than anyone/anywhere else. I simply meant that altruism wasn't absent in other parts of the world, and that lumping everyone together as "ignorant and greedy" wasn't true, either. I could have stated that better, point taken!
Seems that there are a few people on this thread who are blind..