My Life Has Changed
Mr Johanssen Ros, known at the Institute as Jan Ros, is an industrialist from the Netherlands. He has a manufacturing facility for composite pipes used in oil, gas and water applications and lives near Amsterdam with his wife and son.
In 1995, Jan had an accident in his factory when a high pressure tube from the injection machine exploded in his face. The tube contained acid. Jan was not wearing any protective glasses. “It was like steam coming out of a pressure cooker. It happened so fast, before I could even react, and went right into my eyes,” Jan recalled. Acting very quickly, Jan started splashing water on his face and continued washing his face for over two hours. There was intense burning and pain in his eyes as the acid was not soluble in water. The Rotterdam Eye Hospital wanted Jan to be hospitalised but he felt the doctors were not very clear on how to treat him. So he did not stay.
Jan found he couldn’t drive any more. He could not bear bright light even with his eyes closed. This continued for 3 months; slowly his eyes felt more normal, though he remained sensitive to light. While his eyes were far from healthy, he was able to live with the condition.
Then in 2002, disaster struck again! A child accidentally stabbed Jan’s left eye with his finger. The fingernail damaged the cornea and it became totally white – his vision dropped to less than 10%. The eye became worse over the next three years. Jan was now desperate for a solution as both his eyes were severely compromised. Finally, late in 2005, he met a doctor in the UK, who was using stem cell therapy to repair damaged eyes. Jan was kept on a waiting list in the UK.
After waiting for over a year, Jan began looking for other hospitals on the internet. It was mid 2007. Looking at the LVPEI website, he could not believe what he read. He sent an email to the Head of Cornea Services Dr Virender Sangwan, presenting his case and asking for help. Dr Sangwan immediately replied asking for his file from the hospital in UK. It took over four months to get the file. Finally on July 21, 2008, Jan came to LVPEI from Amsterdam. The doctor was so optimistic that Jan agreed to have a biopsy of the stem cells. Jan flew back to Amsterdam with a prayer on his lips. He could not believe that the process had started so quickly.
A couple of weeks later the stem cell transplant surgery was performed – his vision improved, but the sensitivity to light remained. Back in Amsterdam, he visited an eye specialist in Rotterdam every fortnight, whom LVPEI doctors stayed in touch with through e-mail. Half way through the convalescence period Jan had severe pain in the eye – he was allergic to the eye drops administered by the Rotterdam hospital. Jan was advised to stop using the drops, but it was too late – now there was a white spot in the left eye.
The doctor in Rotterdam suggested a corneal transplant. “She said you are European, it would be better if you used a corneal tissue from a European donor,” Jan says. But donor tissues were limited and the average waiting period was 5-9 months. Jan decided to go back to Hyderabad. “When I saw the Ramayamma International Eye Bank at LVPEI, I was more than convinced.” The doctor in Rotterdam refused to monitor him post-surgery if he had the corneal transplant done in India. So Jan was referred to two other doctors for the follow-up, in UK and Germany.
A week after the surgery Jan was already seeing better. For over 12 years Jan’s mornings would begin in the dark, the curtains were always drawn in his bedroom. He would switch on a zero powered bulb, put on his dark glasses and then open the curtains bit by bit. Getting accustomed to the light gradually was a painful ritual that lasted an hour every day. “For the last 12 years, I have been wearing dark glasses. But today, I don’t need them, however bright it is,” Jan exults. “I am very impressed with how efficient the hospital’s systems are. I was really lucky to find out about LVPEI on the internet. It is difficult for Europeans to learn about LVPEI as most of them do not speak or read English. They think India is a third world country and have a different image of what is possible here. I have traveled across the world; after the success of my surgery I believe that at LVPEI anything is possible.”
Jan’s wife Ilsa and his toddler son Vincent, who always saw him in dark glasses, are also celebrating. “Sometimes I just close my right eye to enjoy the marvelous improvement in the left! I am very grateful that a stranger in India supported an unknown patient from the Netherlands. My life has changed after coming to India, thank you all!”