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By OnePaper
staff
"And the eyes of the blind shall see," is
a Biblical prophecy that is realizing miraculous fulfillment, thanks
to the collaboration of a local eye surgeon and a far-seeing
benefactor.
The James Walter Pickle Charitable
Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Wang Foundation for Sight
Restoration, with the contribution to be used exclusively toward
underwriting the cost of artificial corneas and hospital expenses
for patients with corneal blindness, as not covered by insurance or
charitable discounts, in order to fulfill Mr. Pickle’s desire to
enable these monumental procedures for worthy individuals. The
Pickle Foundation hopes this contribution will enable four to five
patients to receive the vision-restoration
surgery.
The James Walter Pickle Charitable
Foundation is a non-profit private foundation with “the intent and
purpose…to provide funds to organizations and individuals which will
enable them to receive medical treatment and/or equipment, which
will have a life-altering impact on their existence,” says
foundation Trustee Larry Sacks.
Founded in 2003, the Wang
Foundation for Sight Restoration is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
charitable organization that offers hope for vision to indigent and
other deserving patients previously diagnosed as irreversibly blind
due to corneal trauma or diseases. As most insurance companies do
not cover the cost of novel sight restoration surgeries, they are
performed by Dr. Wang and his associates free of
charge.
Contributions made to the Foundation are
tax-deductible and help patients cover hospital costs, travel,
lodging, and other out-of-pocket expenses related to the complex
surgical process. The Foundation also funds research to develop new
processes and techniques for novel eye reconstructive
surgery.
The Wang Foundation for Sight
Restoration has received inquiries and patient referrals from
physicians from over 40 states in the U. S. and from over 55
countries worldwide. "Novel sight restoration" surgeries are
indicated for those patients suffering from terminal corneal
blindness for whom all conventional treatments have failed. These
surgeries include amniotic membrane transplantation, corneal
stem-cell transplantation, femtosecond laser artificial corneal
transplantation (a technique that the foundation doctors have
developed) and corneal endothelial cell
transplantation (DSAEK).
Surgeons at the Wang Foundation
for Sight Restoration published the first scientific paper in the
world that demonstrated laboratory success in reducing corneal scar
and keratocyte apoptosis with amniotic membrane graft. The
foundation doctors have obtained a US patent. On March 29, 2004, the
foundation surgeons performed the world's first femtosecond laser
artificial cornea implantation and restored vision in a patient who
had lost sight for 40 years.
Such novel surgeries
are, however, expensive and are generally not covered by any medical
insurance. The foundation raises funds to help financially needy
patients cover their medical expenses and
other expenses related to travel and lodging in coming to Nashville
from various parts of the world.
Recently, after 35 years of
blindness, a Foundation patient had vision restored by a new vision
restoration surgery which was developed by the Foundation doctors,
enabling that patient to see his wife for the first time.
The
surgeries enabled by The James W Pickle Foundation grant will
provide hope for vision restoration for four or five patients in
2006.
For more information, visit http://www.wangfoundation.com/.
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