Mathias Bonilla

At 14 months of age, Mathias Bonilla of Lima, Peru, is a bundle of energy, eager to explore. He reaches for a pen. He reaches for a notebook. At home he reaches for the newspaper, his cousins and his reflection in a mirror.

“He’s a very happy boy, a very social boy,” says his mother, Mirtha Gutierrez Parano. “He’s very curious about everything. He’s not timid.”

Although Mathias currently has the world at his fingertips, a year ago his future wasn’t so bright. Born at 29 weeks’ gestation and weighing 1,800g, Mathias spent his first eight days in an incubator. Although the intensive care he received may have saved his life, it also may have nearly blinded him.

Retinopathy of prematurity: A leading cause of blindness in premature infants

In Latin America, advances in medical care and technology enable more premature infants to survive than ever before. An unintended consequence, however, is that many of these infants may go blind. The cause: retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP occurs when the blood vessels within the retina have insufficient time to develop due to premature birth. A major cause of ROP-related blindness is improper oxygen management in the incubator.

Mathias and his mother, Mirtha Gutierrez Parano

In Lima, ORBIS partners with Instituto Damos Vision (IDV), a non-governmental provider of high-quality eye care services to the poor that has specialized expertise in ROP management.  IDV is providing comprehensive training in ROP screening and management for all neonatal intensive care unit staff in Lima.

Mathias Bonilla is one of the many beneficiaries of the ORBIS/IDV partnership. The neonatologist caring for him understood the risk of ROP and referred him for screening. Mathias was diagnosed with ROP and received sight-saving surgery that very day. This rapid-fire chain of events saved Mathias’ sight and spared him a lifetime of dependency.

You can help

The ORBIS/IDV partnership is helping to reduce the number of premature infants who go blind from ROP, but much more work needs to be done. With your support, we can provide additional clinical training, diagnostic tools and surgical equipment so that more children like Mathias are spared a lifetime of blindness. Please give generously so that others may see.