A video went viral on Twitter a few days ago which captured the emotions of a toddler who got his eyesight back after seven moths. 

Shahabuddin, 15-month-old, got his sight back as a result of a cornea transplant. The grin when the bandage was removed from his eyes melted many hearts. 

Abbottabad’s Shahabuddin lost his eyesight when he was eight-month-old due to a toxic mascara his parents applied to his eyes.

He was blinded in both eyes.

A new hope for him came in the from the United States. An anonymous man from Boston donated his cornea which brought light back in Shahabuddin’s world. 

His father Sirajuddin came to Karachi for his son’s operation where a free-of-cost surgery was performed by Pakistan Eye Bank Society. 

“If this operation had not been performed, he wouldn’t have been able to play or go to school. I thank Allah for this,” said Sirajuddin. 

The ophthalmologist who performed the transplant said that the mascara penetrated deep in the eyes which resulted in loss of eyesight. 

“Keratoplasty is not performed until the child is four years old. But, in this case, he was blind in both eyes. So, we decided to proceed with the operation.” 

Experts say that not every child is as lucky as Shahabuddin, but this could change if people of Pakistan donate their corneas post death.  

“Shahabuddin’s smile after getting his sight back was priceless. People should donate their corneas so that our children can be saved from permanent blindness.” 

Organs donation in Pakistan 

A report published by Dawn states that more than 150,000 people die each year in Pakistan due to end-stage organ failure. 

Experts have said that many of these people can be saved if there is more awareness about deceased organ donation.  

According to the Transplantation Society of Pakistan (TSP), anyone can be an organ donor. There is no age limit for deceased organ donation. 

An organ may be donated by someone as young as newborn or as old as 75 years. However, the age limit for cornea donation is under 80 years old and between 16 years and 60 years for long bones. There is no age limit for skin donation. 

In the case of natural death, organs that can be donated include kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine. Some tissues that may also be donated include corneas, skin, bone and bone marrow. 

 
 
 

How to become an organ donor in Pakistan?

Anyone who wants to donate organs after death can fill this form and become a registered deceased organ donor with the TSP. 

TSP is a part of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) which aims to promote and encourage deceased donor programme. 



source https://www.samaa.tv/news/2021/12/toddler-who-lost-eyesight-to-mascara-receives-cornea-from-us/