You are here: Home > Mumbai > He came from Bihar to donate his eyes

26-year-old Harsh Singh from Bhagalpur in Bihar, a former drug addict, decided to donate his eyes here after he lost a close friend to addiction

GOOD SAMARITAN: Harsh Singh has completed all the formalities to donate his eyes at JJ Hospital's eye bank. PIC/ATUL KAMBLE

In the pursuit of bringing light to the life of another, 26-year-old Harsh Singh, a former substance abuser from Bhagalpur in Bihar, has been running from pillar to post in Mumbai to pledge his eyes for donation. On Sunday, he finally found a taker and filled out all the formalities at JJ Hospital's eye bank that will now accept his corneas for another after his demise.

Singh, an employee of Merchant Navy, has been in Mumbai for a week and during this time he has been trying to get proper information on eye donation. He said, "After my death, I want my vision to be given to someone who really needs it and it should go to the right person. I don't want it to be misused. That is why I did not undergo the donation procedure at a local hospital in my hometown."

Singh missed his parents a lot while he was in a boarding school. "It upset me, and I got addicted to drugs for three years. Then I got admitted to a rehab in Patna for two months. Now I'm clean," said Singh.

The turning point in his life came when he lost one of his closest friends, Manoj Yadav, to drug addiction. "He had a nine-month daughter and now her whole life she will be searching for her parents the way I was when I was at the boarding. That's when the thought of donating my eyes to a child who is visually handicapped occurred to me," said Singh, his voice heavy with emotion.

Singh, who is from a farmer's family, has been rehabilitated and is now living a life devoted to his family. Stating that he doesn't mind donating all his body parts, he added, "God has gifted us this body and one doesn't have the right to destroy it. My help is a small way of motivating people to go forward with it."

Coincidentally he is from the town infamous for the Bhagalpur blinding case (see box). "My decision to donate my eyes is not a direct consequence of the Bhagalpur incident. But it was an atrocious act and there are many people still affected by it."

EYE DONATIONS

In the past year, there have been 5,600 eye donations in Maharashtra and 49,000 all over India, whereas the requirement is that of 2,500 in Maharashtra and almost lakh throughout the country. The head of the ophthalmology Ddpartment at J.J. Hospital, Dr T P Lahane, said, "We have advised the government to make cadaver donations of eyes possible, wherein currently only kidneys, livers and (now) skin can be donated."