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UAE student blinded after classmate threw pen gets 80% eyesight restored

The severity of the injury caused a deep corneal tear and a traumatic cataract, which posed a risk of life-long blindness

When 15-year-old Dhikshit Anoop's mother, Greeshma Anoop, got a call about her son's eye injury in school, she thought he might have to take eye drops for a few days.

However, she was unaware that her son had been blinded and it would need two surgeries and months of treatment to restore his sight partially.

The student was struck in the right eye when his classmates were throwing ballpoint pens across the classroom. The severity of the injury caused a deep corneal tear and a traumatic cataract, which posed a risk of life-long blindness.

Dhikshit went to the hospital about 4-5 hours after the incident. “When he first came to the hospital, his eye was in a terrible condition,” Dr Parth Hemantkumar Joshi, ophthalmologist at Aster Hospital Mankhool, told Khaleej Times. “His cornea, lens and vitreous were injured. We informed the parents about the nature of the injury, the required treatment in a two-staged approach and a relatively long recovery period of around four to six months with visual rehabilitation.”

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The development of a cataract following such an injury is common, occurring in up to 60 per cent of severe open eye injuries.

Within the next few hours, Dhikshit underwent the first surgery to put stitches in his eye. “The first step was to close the wound to prevent further infection and potential loss of sight, so we secured it with stitches thinner than human hair,” said Dr Parth. “It was done under general anaesthesia and took around 45 minutes to complete.”

Dhikshit was then allowed to go home and the stitches were allowed to heal for more than a month. Greeshma said that the recovery period was one of the toughest that the family encountered.

“Dhikshit is a football player, and I would hardly see him at home for more than half an hour,” she said. “But during this time, he was not allowed to go out, play sports, or lift heavy things. Luckily, the doctor allowed him to watch TV. I would download some movies and series for him. He was not a big movie fan but now he enjoys it. My younger son is four years old. He would try to be with Dhikshit and cheer him up all the time.”

Once the stitches were healed, the teenager went back for his second surgery. “After the eye was stabilised, we undertook the second, more definitive procedure,” said Dr. Parth. “During this, all the damaged structure of the eye, like the lens and the vitreous, were removed and replaced. The procedure took a little over an hour. Eventually we could save up to 75 to 80 per cent of his eyesight, which was an excellent outcome considering that he had zero vision in the right eye when he came in.”

Dr Gazala Hasan Mansuri, an ophthalmologist who assisted in the case, said: “Whenever there is a traumatic injury, it is of utmost importance to manage it in time,” she said. “Any exposure to infection could be disastrous in such cases."

Greeshma said that the family counted themselves lucky to have found the team of doctors. “Dr Parth explained each procedure in detail at every step of the way,” she said. “We had briefly considered going back to India for the procedure, but we felt like we could trust Dr Parth.”

She also credited Dhikshit for being strong throughout the ordeal. “We were shattered, to be honest,” she said. “But he was really cool about it and that gave us some strength. He would not even let us take time off work to stay with him at home. He said that us parents being home and stressing about him would stress him out so we hardly took any leave. He was also on-time with his medication, eye care and doctor visits.”

On Monday, the teenager went back to school. “His teachers and friends were happy to have him back,” said Greeshma. “His teacher said his entire class had fallen silent after the incident. He is happy to be back, but he is heartbroken because he will have to miss playing for the under-15 football tournament in school in October."

According to Dr Parth, Dhikshit will have to wear glasses due to the incident, even though he did not need any before that. “The corneal shape was altered because of the injury,” he said. “The eyesight is continuing to recover. Vision is up to 80 per cent now and we are hoping that over the next few months, it will improve."

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