The cash given is to be used in assisting patients undergoing corneal grafting to restore their sight. Corneal grafting is an operation whereby the healthy cornea of a deceased person is used to replace the impaired cornea of the blind or visually handicapped patient.
Speaking after presenting the donation, LG East Africa Managing Director Joseph Kim said the gesture was inspired by the fact that sight is a precious gift of life.
“Sight is the most important asset for every human being. It is the most precious gift that you can give anyone and that is why as an organisation, we have taken up this noble course to help patients have their sight restored,” said Kim.
“We congratulate the medical team at this hospital for performing this miracle in giving sight to the blind. We wanted to be part of making this happen,” Hotpoint Appliances Managing Director Shailesh Kanani said.
“We would also like to thank all our valued customers who purchased over 3,000 TVs to make this contribution possible. You have all contributed to this valuable course.”
Corneal blindness is attributable to many factors among them hereditary problems such as thinning and steepening of the cornea; scarring of cornea after trauma; ulceration or infection; surgery, ageing process or corneal disease.
Corneal transplants rely solely on cornea donations. Corneas can be harvested from deceased persons with the consent of their families within six hours of death. However, they need to be screened for transmittable infections such as HIV and Hepatitis
“Hotpoint Appliances has a long standing partnership with Lions Sight First Hospital supporting them in numerous courses,” Kanani said.
“We hope that through the media, there will be high awareness of the importance to donate cornea, since donation level is low as of now. We are urging Kenyan to pledge donating their cornea,” said Kim.
LG Electronics will partner with Hotpoint to support to donate for the cause every year.