Blind footballers ‘glimmer of hope’ after Burton doctors help them
Three blind football players visiting Burton have been given a ‘distinct glimmer of hope’ that they may see again, after two UHDB consultants volunteered their time and efforts to help them.
The goodwill gesture came from Mr Satish Chawdhary, Consultant Opthalmologist at Queen’s Hospital Burton and Mr Rohit Sharma who is also a Consultant Opthalmologist at Queen’s Hospital Burton.
Mr Chawdhary was contacted by Mr Dinesh Verma MD, who told him the Indian blind football team, which has taken part in the paralympics, was visiting Burton in May to take part in a series of International matches against the English blind football team.
Mr Verma, who was formerly a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Royal Hull Infirmary and is currently a Non-Executive Director for the Society for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged, said some of the team hoped to get further opinion on their varied eye conditions to see if anything could be done to improve their sight.
Mr Chawdhary and Mr Sharma offered to privately help the men and said the clinic was a ‘thrilling and positive experience.’
Mr Chawdhary said: “Mr Verma said he had an unusual request; he said the players are poor and asked if they could be examined while visiting.
“He said he would understand if it couldn’t be done but I saw it as an opportunity for doing good work for athletes from my own town and I wanted to help if I could.”
The consultants offered to give up their time and assessed the three footballers at Mr Chawdhary’s Derby Skin Laser and Cosmetic Clinic on May 8.
He said: “Myself and Mr Sharma found potentially treatable conditions which offer a distinct glimmer of hope, and a definitive path to improve sight in these young men.
“They were born with reasonably good vision but lost it in their early teens. This gives us a great possibility as their brains have already learned to see.”
The duo is confident it can now get the men surgical treatment in India for free.
Mr Chawdhary said: “The task is difficult but not impossible.
“It will take a series of surgical and investigative steps and will be very costly, but Rohit and I know the top eye surgeons in India who, we’re confident, will be able to operate and investigate these players for free in the private sector.”
Mr Chawdhary said meeting the players was ‘uplifting’ in many ways as they shared their wonder about their trip to England.
He said: “They were wonderstruck why the roads were so quiet and there were no car horns, a departure from India where the blazing car horns are a way to announce to the road users that you are in a car.
“They were also very pleased that they were able to travel in a BMW and a Tesla, which they will tell everyone about in India.
“We asked them what their impressions of England were. They said the air smells so clean, and the roads are quiet.
“I’m very satisfied that our efforts did achieve something and the players educated us on a few aspects in which I was illiterate.
“My life is certainly richer for the experience.”