2 get Raj’s special gift - his eyes

LEGACY TO LIVE ON
2 get Raj’s special gift - his eyes
Deccan Herald

They will never know that they were the special ones. Nor will their names be revealed to the world. But with them, will live the man who scripted the history of Kannada film industry with his life and performance....

They will never know that they were the special ones. Nor will their names be revealed to the world. But with them, will live the man who scripted the history of Kannada film industry with his life and performance.

On Thursday, two people, who by sheer luck, were on top of the waiting list for corneal transplant with Narayana Nethralaya received the eyes of Rajkumar, who had pledged his eyes in 1994, when the eye bank at the Hospital was founded and named after him.

Recipients

The doctors successfully transplanted the cornea in a 15-year-old boy, who had lost his vision in both his eyes due to Keratoconus - a corneal disorder in which the front portion of the eyes becomes cone-shaped leading to visual impairment.

The other beneficiary was a 55-year-old man, whose left eye had suffered corneal damage some time ago. Both recipients are from Bangalore.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Hospital Managing Director Bhujang Shetty said the transplants were completed by 3 pm on Thursday. “Tomorrow the patients will have their first dressing,” he said.

Though the donor is gone, never to return, in his death, he literally replays his debut performance in the early 1950’s in the film ‘Bedara Kannappa’, of a hunter, who plucked out his eyes to replace the bleeding eyes of Lord Shiva.