CORNEA GRAFTING

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19765, 21 December 1935, Page 16 (Supplement)

CORNEA GRAFTING

Teaching Two Men to See. Writing Letters After Years of Blindness.

. Two men, one of whom has been blind since babyhood and the other for 28 years, are now pupils in one of the strangest “schools” ever held in a hospital, says a London paper. Grafting operations, says a London paper, have proved successful. Bandages, which shrouded the men’s eyes for weeks, have been removed. Until a few days ago one of them, Mr H. Morgan, who is a Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Divinity, had never seen his hands. He is 29. ‘Now he can distinguish between elementary colours, and copy letters like M and N. At first ho made mistakes. M he wrote upside down. During the next few days the lessons will be continued. Both Very Happy. “It will be some time yet before the men will be able to see clearly,” an official of the hospital told a pressman. "Actually all we can say at presents that the cornea grafting operation has been successful. “The other patient is Mr Frederick Young, of Luton, who lost his eyesight in an explosion 28 years ago. He is now 53. In his case he has the memory of things seen before' he became blind to help him to-day. “Naturally both men are very happy.” Captain Sir- lan Fraser, who lost his sight in the war, has visited the hospital, and talked for half an hour with his friend Mr Morgan. “For the first time,” he remarked, "Mr Morgan has the capacity to define objects vaguely. Before the operation he had a perception of light. “He could tell whether it was day or night, which I cannot know visually, although I may know it by the feel of it. help a blind person to see. The Real Hope. Each letter was forwarded to the

“He could tell whether the electric lights were on or off, and if the lights were clouded by someone putting a hand in front of the globe. He would have said before the operation, ‘There is less light now,' but would not know why the light had become more dim. Now, following the operation, he knows why. “If a similar operation were possible to me—l could see until I was 18—I would know aeroplanes and other objects because I had experience of them. “As far as it goes the operation is a success. He is on the edge of a great adventure, and everyone is terribly anxious not to excite him or to raise his hopes too high.” The progress of the operations has been closely watched by medical men and surgeons throughout the country. Following the recent announcement that further operations were held up by lack of suitable supplies of healthy cornea, scores of men and women have written to the “News of the World” offering to give up one eye if it would surgeons responsible for this amazing operation. There is, however, no possible chance of a healthy eye being removed for grafting purposes. The only eyes that will be used will be those that hav« to be removed in certain cases. Suggestions have been made that the cornea from the eyes of newly dead persons, who in life gave permission for their eyes to be removed for this purpose, would prove suitable for the necessary operation. Many of our readers have indicated their willingness to assist by drawing up agreements authorising surgeons to remove their eyes after death and in each case the offer was conveyed to the hospital authority concerned. They are now dealing with them.