Arnav Gupta

On January 8, 2022, MOHAN Foundation’s ‘Anudaan- Making Transplants Affordable’ team received an email from Niramaya Charitable Trust, Gurugram, Haryana requesting financial aid for Mr. Kalu Nath’s corneal transplant.

Mr. Kalu Nath, age 56 belongs to a poor family in Kadhai Village, Ujjain District, Madhya Pradesh working as an agricultural labourer.

He had been suffering from some eye problem from a long time. He realized something was wrong with his right eye five years ago. He started feeling pain, cloudiness and burning. His family contacted a local eye specialist in Ujjain for his treatment. They were in shock after hearing the news that Kalu was suffering from a serious corneal disease called Keratoconus which causes vision problems due to thinning of the cornea.

The doctor informed the family that Kalu’s eye condition was critical and he was in an urgent need of corneal transplant. He then underwent his first corneal transplant. Though Kalu managed to get rid of the pain but his eye condition did not improve much. After four years, he started to feel the eye pain and was slowly losing the sight again.

Mr. Kalu’s elder son, who works in Gurugram, Haryana, was informed about Ahooja Eye & Dental Institute (AEDI) in Gurugram for better treatment of his father. Looking at their father’s critical eye condition, the family decided to visit AEDI with a hope that his eye problem would be fixed and he would improve his eye sight.

In January, 2022, Mr. Kalu was taken to AEDI, Gurugram for further treatment. After few check ups and proper eye examination, the doctors informed the family that he had to undergo second corneal transplant. Due to poor family economy, they could not afford to pay for the second transplant as all their savings were spent on travelling, previous corneal transplant and medical expenses. That is when, they discussed with the doctors that they did not have money to pay for the transplant and they needed financial support. Ahooja team then connected the family to their trust, Niramaya Charitable Trust, where they could receive some help. Niramaya team informed the family about MOHAN Foundation’s life-saving initiative Anudaan-‘Making Transplants Affordable’. The family and Niramaya trust approached Anudaan team for financial aid.

MOHAN Foundation-Anudaan contributed Rs. 20,000 for Mr. Kalu Nath’s corneal transplant which was successfully performed on January 10, 2022. His right eye vision is slowly getting better with no pain.

‘I would like to thank MOHAN Foundation for supporting my corneal transplant and giving me the gift of sight.’ – Mr. Kalu Nath