Sarah's Story: Too young to say Thank You

She's too young to say thank you, but you've given her the chance to see.

When Sarah was three weeks old, her mother Maurice took her to visit another young mum. Comparing their two babies closely, Maurice noticed that something was different about Sarah's eyes; both eyes of her baby girl were whiter than they should be.

Sarah and her mother Maurice. Photo: CBM

Maurice took Sarah her to a nearby hospital, where medical staff diagnosed Sarah as having bilateral cataracts, but said there was nothing they could do. Sarah and her parents were referred to CCBRT (a major CBM partner) for Cataract surgery.

Maurice saved for five months to pay for the two-day journey to reach the CCBRT doctors who could restore her daughter's sight. Sarah's mother recognised the difference that operating on Sarah's bilateral cateracts could make to Sarah's future life chances and commented that "if Sarah doesn't have the operation then she will grow up not being able to do things."

Thanks to the funding provided by CBM, both operations were to be free, but the trip itself and accomodation for Maurice would be a significant expense.

"I want to say thank you. I prayed for sight for Sarah and for the doctors and God has answered my prayer!" - Maurice (Sarah's mother)

The delicate operation was done in two parts, with recovery time in between. Doctors trained by CBM always let one eye heal before operating on the second, and Sarah's case proves the importance of this potentially sight-saving precaution. During her second surgery, doctors discovered that the new artificial lens wouldn't fit - so Sarah will always rely more on her stronger eye, and will need glasses as she grows up.

Anticipating the joy of watching her baby girl discover the world around her, Maurice says, "I want to say thank you. I prayed for sight for Sarah and for the doctors and God has answered my prayer!"

Sarah is just one story of how your support can help to transform lives, by providing free sight-saving Cataract surgery.

Further Reading

 Cataracts - Read more about Cataracts
 Vision 2020 - Read more about the global "Vision 2020: The Right to Sight" initiative; of which CBM are founding members.
 CCBRT - Read about our partner project CCBRT, in Tanzania