Now He Can Read
Born with a corneal disorder that prevented him from seeing the words on his class blackboard and books, Le Quoc Trieu repeated first grade for three years running.
Vietnam’s approximately 300,000 corneal disease sufferers are growing at a rate of around 15,000 annually. The lack of transplant resources and skills mean corneal patients here must wait unbearably long times for surgery. In 2003, ORBIS began working with the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) to increase public awareness about tissue donations. We subsequently helped launch Vietnam’s first eye bank, significantly increasing transplant surgery numbers. In helping to equip the eye bank, train technicians, procurement specialists and ophthalmologists, your donations have benefited many corneal transplant patients.
"Now that I can see everything the teacher writes on the blackboard, I’m very happy." Following his long awaited transplant, Trieu is doing very well in school.
