The amazing story of the God of Sight from Nepal: Sanduk Ruit

This is Mr. Sanduk Ruit. And till this date, he had done eye surgery for over 130, 000 blind people. But the most inspiring part is that he did these entire surgeries for free to those who couldn't afford it. Due to his humanitarian works, he has been titled as one of the most important ophthalmologists (eye doctors) in the world.

Dr Ruit is an eye doctor from Nepal. When he did a survey on Nepal blindness, it revealed to him the huge numbers of people who are suffering from treatable blindness. And their blindness was due to cataracts which can be removed via surgery. But they avoided the treatment because the cost for surgery was not affordable for poor people or the surgery was inaccessible. Witnessing such conditions reminded him of his own sister who died when she was only 17 years old due to a curable TB because of the inaccessibility of good hospitals nearby their village. He realized this is the reality of many other rural villages. So he decided to change this grim situation with the skills in his hand.

Cataracts are the clouding of the lens of the human eye which happens due to the accumulation of proteins in the lens. Most cataracts develop slowly with age, causing symptoms such as blurry vision. Most people start getting cataracts around the age of 40 but usually, symptoms are significant after 60. Rarely babies are born with cataracts due to birth defects.

The surgery for the cataract is done by first making a small incision in the eye, pulling out the fogged natural lens and implanting a new artificial lens in place of it. But this surgery was so expensive that only well-to-do families could afford it.

The main expenses for the cataract surgery came from the surgical procedure itself. This delicate microsurgery requires complex machinery whose operation charge was huge. And second expense was the intraocular lens(artificial lens) which cost more than $250. 

Dr Ruit was a masterful surgeon whose skills surpassed those of the well-renowned surgeon from the west. He pioneered a simple cataract microsurgery technique that costs only $25 dollars per patient and is virtually always successful. His method is so ingenious that even medical schools in the United States teach this "New Method '' to their students. Dr Geoffrey Tabin, an eye specialist at the University of Utah’s Moran Eye Center says the results in rural Nepal using this technique are as good as those of his patients in Salt Lake City paying for first-class care and benefiting from almost $1 million in the latest medical equipment.

Developing a cheaper surgery technique wasn't enough because it would be inaccessible for many people in remote areas. This was the reason he lost his sister at such a young age. Also, the cost for the artificial lens was still huge. 

At first, it seemed an impossible task to spread his techniques in a geographically diverse country like Nepal. Also, there was no hope from the government to aid him in his endeavour. But he knew, if the existing system doesn't support him in his goal, he has to create his own system. So for a determined person like Snaduk Ruit, this was just a matter of time.

The tragedy he faced for his sister had sparked within him an intense desire to provide quality healthcare to everyone regardless of their geography. So after a decade long persistence, he founded the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology with the help from the Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF), Australia. Tilganga institute includes hospitals, outreach clinics and training programs and an eye bank. For the treatment, they take fees from better-off patients to support impoverished people who can't afford even a penny.

Tilganga itself manufactures 450,000 tiny intraocular lenses each year which costs just $3 compared to $200 in the developed countries. And the qualities of the lenses are no less than those on the west. Moreover, for those who lose an eye, Tilganga manufacturers realistic-looking prosthetic eyes that cost $3 compared to $150 for false imported eyes.

Ruit himself is a proficient surgeon who could restore sight in less than 10 minutes with flawless cataract operations. Now he had developed a sustainable eye care system whose quality surpassed that of the big hospitals. And such great health care was affordable to everyone in Nepal. But still, he wanted to make sure that every blind person in Nepal was treated. So he and Dr Geoffrey Tabin initiated the Himalayan Cataract Project. During this project, he would set up mobile camps in many rural areas where local people could receive his services for free.

Usually, people would trek for days groping their way to him with the hope to get their sight back. And when it was time to open their eyes to see this beautiful world, the first thing they saw was the man who gifted their vision. This is the reason why he is called a God of Sight. He hadn't just given them their sight back, he had saved their entire lives, which was nothing less than a miracle. 

He even went on a mission to take his techniques and system to other underdeveloped regions of the world like Bhutan, India, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and even North Korea. And he has been hailed as the miracle worker even in those countries as well. Today, this remarkable man can be found spending his days performing dozens of back-to-back surgeries, still giving that gift of sight, time and again, and training doctors from all over the world to do the same. 

But the path to becoming an eye healer and one of the most important opthalmologist of the world wasn't easy for him. His innovation was mocked and his desire to help people was deemed stupid by his peers. He was even called crazy and mad. But his motivation surpassed all the criticism. When he saw the beautiful smile in his patients after they got their vision back, it was enough to inspire him to keep pursuing.

In the 20 years of endeavouring to establish the eye care system, he never lost sight of his aspirations. What happened to his sister at such young age, he wanted to stop it from happening to anyone. He never let other people's doubts hinder him in his path. With persistence and belief, he achieved what many people thought was impossible. Moreover, His feat for altruistic works is so magnificent that it won't be an exaggeration to call him the Buddha of this modern age.