BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - A lot of people had their lives tremendously improved Saturday at a surgical center in Bloomington.
And it was all free-of-charge, thanks to a program now in its tenth year.
Minutes out of surgery, left eye still dilated, Marion Phillips-Lunsford of Superior, Wisconsin said, ""It's just amazing, I see!"
She is no longer blinded by a milky-white cataract that attracted stares from strangers.
With tears of joy she said, "It just really means a lot that I can really see. I don't have to hide in the house anymore."
Uninsured, it's a surgery she would not have been able to get had it not been free.
For ten years now, Dr. Thomas Samuelson and the medical team at Minnesota Eye Consultants have been providing free eye surgeries two Saturdays a year for the under- or uninsured through Operation Eyesight.
Samuelson said, "It's a great way to pay it forward."
The supplies, equipment and medications are donated. And Samuelson said, "Everyone that you see here is volunteer."
Cataract surgeries can take ten to twenty minutes. Samuelson said, "You get the cloudy lens out and the clear lens in."
But it's not just cataract surgery. Minnesota Eye Consultants also offers free surgeries for glaucoma, corneal transplants and more. They are not only giving people back their vision, but their livelihood too.
Kevin Smith of Hinckley, Minnesota said, "I was losing my income from my eyes. I couldn't keep going. It was really getting tough."
Smith, who owns Tonesmith Guitars, builds custom guitars for musicians like Tom Petty and Sugarland. Well, he did until cataracts clouded his vision a year ago, making even designing on a computer tough.
He said, "I was taking, it sounds really bad, taking cheater glasses and put duct tape on them to make a little slit to see the screen. Oh I was laughing at myself but it was pathetic."
But now Smith's right eye is clear again. He'll get the left one done when Minnesota Eye Consultants does its second round of free surgeries next month.
Cataract surgery for just one eye costs about five-thousand dollars. Prices vary for other surgeries.
Minnesota Eye Consultants did ten surgeries on Saturday. They will do ten more on March 10th. Samuelson estimates they are donating 75,000 to 100,000 dollars worth of surgery each day.
But really having clear vision again is invaluable.
Smith said, "It's a blessing. It really is. It's amazing."
There were fifty applicants this year. The spots for twenty total surgeries have been filled.
If you are interested in applying for a free eye surgery next year as part of Operation Eyesight, you can call Minnesota Eye Consultants at 1-800-EYE-TO-EYE.
(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)