Bridgetown Barbados, October 1st 2019 – Keratoconus Barbados (KCB), a seven month old registered charity, is pleased to confirm that corneal cross linking surgery, which halts the progression of the eye condition keratoconus (KC) has been performed on the first four of its adolescent and teen members, with a fifth targeted for this month.
Chairman of the management committee Roseanne Myers advised “We are happy to report that the first surgeries- one eye on each patient- have been completed, through agreement with the Corneal Specialist Dr. Nigel Barker, to do them in advance of payment and before the start of the school term.” One child fortunately with assistance from their school community has had both eyes done. As we have interacted with Barbados Union of Teachers and the Secondary and Primary Schools Principals associations, we have seen the benefit of increased awareness and willingness to assist in our efforts”
Mrs. Myers added “The issue with all the recommended best practice procedures is that there are costly for the average household and at present are only available privately. So we are happy to have been assistance in a tangible way”
About the condition
Keratoconus is a progressive eye condition that causes mild to serious visual impairment and anecdotal evidence in Barbados indicates a higher than normal incidence of the condition and that children are presenting at earlier ages. Teens and preteens are presenting with the condition and parents and teachers are encouraged to learn how to recognize the symptoms and seek early intervention.
The KCB 2020 Vision Golf Tournament
Mrs. Myers went on to say “Our major fund-raising efforts to facilitate surgeries and fitting special contact lenses include the KCB 2020 Vision Golf Tournament and silent auction on October 12th , 2019 when we will be introducing the concept of Blind Golf to Barbados and show that both sighted and sight impaired golfers can play side by side. With the kind assistance of one of our major sponsors Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. Barbados will be the first in the region to introduce blind golf and are pleased to have Bob Banks and his wife and caddy Alice join us from the United States Blind Golf Association and Andrew and Melanie Gilford from the UK and Wales Blind Golf Association. All golfers will play one hole, blindfolded. The 2020 tournament will really be a more expansive demonstration of the concept with many more sight impaired players from international teams joining us. We encourage participation from the golfing and corporate community Oct 12th this year to pay for surgeries and patient care for children.”
Keratoconus Barbados is a registered charity whose objectives include raising awareness and identifying resources to assist patients and conducting research on the condition. Its mantra is to promote patient centered care and though our efforts have been focused on acquiring equipment, and raising awareness, Keratoconus Barbados is happy the first four (4) children are now on the way to improved visual acuity and are encouraging other KC sufferers to join us.
For further information please email kcbarbados@gmail.com or visit KCB on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kcbarbados