A victim of terrorism from across the border

The town of Kurram Agency, situated close to the Pakistan – Afghanistan border next to the Khyber Pass in the Khyber Paktoon Province is a hotbed of terrorist activity. After the terrorists were chased out by the army the town became a major market centre for the surrounding region.

Syed Mehdi Hussain, 20, plies a taxi during the day and goes to a night school. On the evening of February 18, 2008 Hussain was driving around in the crowded narrow lanes of the Para Chinar Bazar of the Eidgah market, when a suicide bomber blew himself up with a powerful explosive that killed 64 and injured over 200 people. Hussain's taxi was totally destroyed, burnt to cinders and he was thrown out. He had multiple injuries all over, a couple of broken ribs, his lungs were punctured and his right hand broken in many places. Both his eyes were severely damaged and, at that instant, he could not see what had happened because of the impact and the shrapnel.

Blinded and broken, Hussain was taken to a hospital in Peshawar and spent the better part of 3 months in intensive care. When he finally came out, he was practically blind and had to depend upon others in his day-to-day life. While he was grateful for being whole again, doctors in Peshawar were unable to give him back his sight in the better eye.

Hussain's father is a farmer and his mother a home-maker; they could not do very much more for their son. The local government did not compensate him for any expenses though promises were made by several politicians. In March 2009, he underwent a surgery in his left eye. Through the efforts of relations and friends he moved to Islamabad, where the Al Shifa Trust took up his case. A friend Adil Raza scoured the websites of eye hospitals all over the world and came upon the LVPEI website. He started corresponding with us over six months ago and doctors at LVPEI readily agreed to take up Hussain's case.

Hussain and his cousin Irfan Haider took the 12-hour bus journey from Lahore through the Wagah checkpost to Delhi and then flew into Hyderabad on September 21, 2011. Hussain was seen in the clinic by both our cornea and retina specialists. He underwent a complicated combination surgery in his left eye for his retina and to place the Boston K-pro as an artificial cornea on October 10th. He did well post surgery regaining ambulatory vision. On October 24th, he underwent another surgery by a glaucoma specialist to place the Ahmed Glaucoma Valve (AGV) to ease the intraocular pressure (IOP) build-up in the eye. Post-operatively, his IOP was within normal limits.

Hussain returned home happy that he could now see well enough to be independent in his daily life. He was grateful to the doctors and staff at LVPEI who were extremely supportive. Moreover, his treatment costs at LVPEI were subsidized.