Puneeth Rajkumar helped 4 people get their vision back; Details here

Breaking the tradition of giving corneas to two persons, doctors at Narayana Nethralaya have ensured that not just one or two but four people have got their vision back due to Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar's eye donation. Puneeth Rajkumar passed away on Friday due to a heart attack. His mortal remains were laid rest on Sunday with state honours. 

Explaining the procedure Dr Bhujanga Shetty, Director, Narayana Nethralaya said that with the advanced corneas transplant called Lamellar Keratoplasty, the team of doctors led by Dr Yathish Shivanna and Sharon D'Souza team performed this surgery. The corneas were sliced into a superior layer and deep layer for two recipients. And from another eye, the same was done to help two more recipients. He further added that the corneas are just like glass which can be seen from both sides.

Dr Bhujanga Shetty said that the biggest challenge was to find the right kind of recipients. The hospital had three on the waiting list and reached out to another hospital to find one more patient. As there is a thumb rule to safeguard the identity of the recipient, the doctor just revealed their gender and mentioned that those who got Puneeth's cornea are youngsters.

The surgery was performed at the hospital campus on Saturday in a marathon 7-hour operation from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm. The doctors followed post-operative producers and confirmed that the recipients are doing fine and there is no complications.

Dr Shetty recalled the same gesture by Dr Rajkumar as after his demise his eyes were also donated. The family which has had close ties with the hospital since the late 1990's said that Dr Rajkumar and his wife Parvathamma Rajkumar both had pledged eye donation and the family members are also following in their footsteps.

Apart from corneas, the hospital has also kept Puneeth's eyeballs for tissue germination to help people with infections or injuries due to chemical reactions.