Meet Heak, a 74-year-old woman from Cambodia! According to our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), “Heak is married with a son, three daughters and fifteen grandchildren.” In her free time, “Heak used to like watching movies.” Due to hypermature cataracts in both of her eyes, however, Heak has been unable to enjoy this hobby among others.
“Heak has had cataracts for over three years,” explains CSC. Cataracts cause a thin, cloudy layer to develop over the lens of the eye. As they continue to grow, cataracts can reach hypermaturation—subsequently solidifying and spreading over the entire lens. This condition is rather common among older patients and, in their hypermature state, cataracts can lead to health complications such as vision loss and discomfort.
“Heak’s cataracts make her partially blind,” CSC explains, and it has become increasingly difficult for Heak to do things and visit places on her own. This affects Heak’s independence, causing her to “rely on her daughter to help her most of the day.”
With $225 in funding, Heak will receive surgery to correct the cataracts in both of her eyes. Doctors will remove the old, deteriorated lenses and replace them with new, artificial substitutes. This will be a two-part procedure, as Heak will first receive surgery on her right eye and will then “come back in two weeks to have surgery on her left eye.” CSC adds that following her operations, Heak is expected to “be able to see clearly.”
Excited about having her sight and independence restored, Heak shares her plans of “going to the pagoda, no longer having to bother her daughter when she wants to go outside, and visiting her daughter in another province.”