Palestinian teenager receives artificial eye at Dubai hospital | The National

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Mamoon Qabha, 17, who lost an eye as a result of an accident as a child, recently visited Dubai where he was fitted with an artificial eye at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Courtesy Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

He was suffering from ophthalmia, an inflammatory eye condition, when the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund brought him to Dubai for treatment at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He was fitted with an ocular prosthesis (artificial eye) and is now recovered and back in his village.

“Mamoon will not be able to see through the artificial eye but it will help his facial muscles to develop normally and also help boost his confidence and encourage him to study further.

“People who see him will not be able to make out that this is an artificial eye,” said Mazen Aloul, of the PCRF UAE chapter and who met Mamoon in Dubai last week.

During his stay, the teenager said children had been scared of him when he was younger because he did not have an eye and he felt lonely, isolated and depressed. He had even given up on his studies.

“Mamoon was really looking forward to getting the artificial eye. He now wants to finish high school, study journalism and come back to live in Dubai. The volunteers at PCRF took him to the beach, the malls, the Burj Khalifa and other spots and he fell in love with the city,” said Mr Aloul. After the treatment, Mamoon’s father sent a letter of thanks to the PCRF.

“We hope that this trip will provide Mamoon with an improved quality of life. There are many children with medical conditions coming from conflict areas like Syria, Iraq or Gaza who need medical attention that their families cannot afford or it is not available in their home country, and we help them,” said Steve Sosebee, the chief executive of the PCRF.

“We also hope that by bringing children like Mamoon to the UAE for treatment, they can experience world-class health care and a world outside.”

 

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