Optometrist Mital Patel, store director at Specsavers in Walton on Thames, Surrey has helped save the sight of a young West African boy during a trip organised by Vision Aid Overseas (VAO).
Patel (pictured right) travelled to the remote country of Burkina Faso with a team eight volunteers in December. The team screened the eyes of more than 2,500 locals and fitted second-hand spectacles.
During the trip Patel met a seven-year-old boy who presented at the clinic with dense cataracts in both eyes.
'The boy was almost completely blind but his parents were unable to afford the operation needed to save his sight. The team and I were so moved by the boy's problem as we saw that he had no quality of life, and without treatment had little hope for the future. We decided to pay for the complicated operation to restore the boy's sight and we're delighted that everything went to plan,' said Patel.
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