Emily Lampa talked with Dr. Ephraim Singh Atwal, director, Eyes on America about Mission Cataract Day. Dr. Atwal says they have been involved since 2014. He says it is an organization that allows for charitable cataract surgery performed here in the U.S. for patients who typically fall between the cracks, those who don’t have great insurance, or don’t have insurance at all really for the most part, veterans, people who really need their vision to function in their normal lives, at work or church or even to just walk around their house.
Dr. Atwal says it is a very blessed feeling and it’s been his goal his entire life to be able to help people and to do so in such a capacity in the U.S. where you don’t really think of charity organizations performing surgery in the U.S. He says the assumption that the county that we live in provides it’s people as well as it does and for the most part it does, but there are exceptions to that and we try and fill that gap for our community.
October 15th is the Mission Cataract Day here in Western New York. Dr. Atwal says they have actually been performing cases throughout the year. He says they didn’t have an event day last year because of COVID and everything else that was going on, but we were able to put patients on the surgery schedule throughout the year last year and this year as well.
Lou Piccone, former Buffalo Bill and Eyes on America board member says our guys and their wives and families really enjoyed the opportunity to become involved in such a worthwhile effort and those people who provide those services to those families. He says it’s something you don’t walk away from; once you get involved with it you stay there…why? Because you can. Lou says our association, the Buffalo Bills Alumni Association has been so benevolent in itself to the Buffalo community for so many years, giving back because they gave to us.
Dr. Atwal says the program has done well over 500 cases, 500 eyes, 500 patients and says I can’t even tell you the number anymore, but it’s been robust, and it’s been very successful throughout the years and there are a lot of people who are grateful we are still doing it, including myself.
For more information visit eyesonamerica.care
