A kind-hearted person with a bright smile — that’s how we saw Abgar years ago while preparing a story about his successful treatment on our Mobile Eye Hospital. Astigmatism, glaucoma, and later a cataract had made Abgar’s life difficult. But surgery provided by our organization solved Abgar’s vision problem and returned bright colors back into his life.
Most recently, Abgar developed another eye disease: keratopathy, which affected his left eye. Keratopathy is a disease of the transparent anterior part of the eye, or cornea. Besides cloudy vision, Abgar experienced pain in his affected eye, which recently had become unbearable.
As the only solution, doctors recommended a cornea transplant, which is quite costly and consists of the cost of surgery as well as the cost of the corneal tissue. Abgar is on Armenia’s poverty list, which means he could receive the surgery at no cost. But even with the free-of-charge procedure, Abgar could not afford to pay for the corneal tissue, which can cost up to $1,500. So again, Abgar turned to the AECP.
Since the inception of our Cornea Transplant Program in 2016, over 180 cornea transplants have been performed in Armenia. Thanks to the generous contribution of our benefactors, Abgar received his cornea transplant surgery in March of 2024.
“It is a real blessing for me,” Abgar said, “Now the pain is gone and my eyesight has also been restored a little bit. The AECP program saved my eyes for the second time!”
