I became an ophthalmologist because my father had an incurable eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa which to this day has no known cure. Little by little, I watched my father’s vision deteriorate to the point that my siblings and I used to call him the “blind ninja”. Despite a very limited field of vision that classified him as legally blind, he would sometimes travel by air alone and follow the shadows in front of him to get to his waiting transportation that would take him home. My father’s spirit was never broken by his blindness. He helped so many people in his lifetime, and to this day, my family feels the gratitude of those whose lives he changed for the better. I could only imagine how much more he could have done for others had he not suffered a stroke and eventually lost all his sight. Once, to find out how losing sight can feel, I patched both my eyes, determined to go through the day as a blind person. I couldn’t last 30 minutes .

Each time I see a bilaterally blind patient, I pray that it is something that my knowledge, skills and experience can treat and that the patient will regain useful vision under my care. I like listening to patients tell me of their complaints to find out how I can truly solve their eye problems. I hope that spending time with patients provide a sense of comfort to them. When patients regain their vision or feel relief from eye pain, their quality of life improves- they are able to study, earn a living, support a family, and fully enjoy what life has to offer. Helping my patients achieve these goals is the ultimate prize for me as an eye doctor. I know fully well that curing the blind is not always possible. So when a patient is able to see well again because of what God allowed my hands to do, I think, this one’s for you, Dad.