After 28 years, Snehlata's life still shines through someone else's eyes

Ranchi: Snehlata, a cornea transplant recipient, remembers her donor with folded hands even after 28 years. “I offer my deepest respects to the one whose eyes brought light into my life,” she says, recalling the transformative surgery that changed her destiny.

She was just 10 years old when her eyesight began to fade. While studying under a tubelight, a small insect entered her eye. In panic, she rubbed it hard—an innocent mistake that would leave a lasting impact. “I didn’t understand what had happened. I was a child,” she says. At the time, she lived in Jaspur, and soon after the incident, her eyes turned red. Gradually, the black part of her eye, the cornea, started turning white. Despite visiting several doctors, her vision showed no improvement.

Then came 1996. News spread about the first-ever cornea transplant in then-united Bihar-Jharkhand, performed by Dr. B.P. Kashyap and Dr. Bharti Kashyap in Ranchi. Media coverage brought a ray of hope. Snehlata, who was in Chhattisgarh at the time, travelled to Ranchi and registered at Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank for a transplant.

After a few months, she received a call from Dr. Bharti Kashyap. The doctors successfully transplanted the cornea, restoring her vision. “Everything started to look normal again,” she says. The surgery didn’t just restore her sight; it changed her future. “After the transplant, my photos started looking better. Earlier, the whiteness in my cornea was clearly visible. That had become a hurdle in getting married.”

At that time, preservation methods for corneas were limited, and the transplant had to be completed within 24 hours of donation. The journey from Jaspur to Ranchi typically took 3.5 hours, but her family reached in just two. “Time was critical,” she recalls.

Post-surgery, her confidence soared. Marriage proposals followed, and she eventually tied the knot and moved to Jaipur. Even today, when she visits eye specialists there, they’re amazed by the quality of her transplant. “Doctors still say my cornea transplant was done beautifully.”

Years later, Snehlata remains a living testament to the power of eye donation. Through someone else's eyes, her world continues to shine bright.