Corneal Donation in Nepal

Michael Amendolia

Network Photographers

This is an essay on a unique form of corneal donation and transplantation that involves harvesting corneas from the dead that are about to be cremated on the ghat of the Pashupatinath Temple and transplanting those cornea’s into the eyes of the corneal blind five hundred meters down the river at the most progressive eye hospital in Nepal, the Tilganga Eye Center. Trained ophthalmic nurses extract the corneas from the dead where family have agreed to donate, and hours later, Nepalese ophthalmologists are stitching the specially prepared cornea on to the top of the eye in transplantation. Corneal Blind, A man with severe corneal opacity.

Michael Amendolia, "Corneal Donation in Nepal," in POYi Archive, Item #30659, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/30659 (accessed November 23, 2024).