Lions members gathered in the Battlefords heard an inspirational story from a fellow member who had the gift of sight restored to him.
Ron Buhler, a Saskatoon Downtown Lions club member, had gone totally blind in both eyes in the last couple of years, but had his sight restored Sept. 2 thanks to an artificial cornea implanted in his left eye.
He travelled all the way to Boston to have the procedure done at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The costs, amounting to $5,000, were covered by the Lions in the province.
The final operation removed the cornea and the pupil from Buhler's left eye, and replaced it with a graft with a miniature telescope inserted inside.
"I now see through a miniature telescope," said Buhler.
He spoke about the procedure at the Lions Club District 5SKN convention at the Western Development Museum in North Battleford Feb. 10 to 12. Buhler's speech to the delegates was Saturday morning.
His message was of interest to the Lions members, whose work in helping the visually impaired has earned them the title "Knights of the Blind."
The Lions' activities to help the blind includes the Lions Eye Bank of Saskatchewan which supports corneal transplants, as well as their dog guide program to assist the blind in their everyday lives.
Buhler had already been partially blind due to diphtheria suffered when he was one year old. Later on, his vision deteriorated even more when his cornea ended up perforated due to the damage from diphtheria.
It was not an easy road for Buhler, who says he needed three operations within a year to repair the damage from the perforation to his eye. These were needed just so that he could get to a stage where he could even consider the implant procedure in Boston.
He met with surgeons last spring to assess whether they could do surgery or not. If the eye had been reinfected, they would not have been able to do a successful surgery at all.
Fortunately, all went well for Buhler.
Still, there are no guarantees this will last him the rest of his life. His surgeon told him the surgery would restore some of his sight, and it did.
Buhler did not have to make financial arrangements to cover the trip to Boston for surgery.
"All the Lions in Saskatoon had helped my wife and I financially," said Buhler.
The surgery has proven to be an eye-opening experience for Buhler, to say the least. "Fantastic. What else can I say?" Buhler said.
He's now able to see what someone looks like in front of him, whereas before he wouldn't have seen that person at all. He might still have trouble reading a name tag, but would have recognized if someone was wearing one.
Buhler also pointed out he could even read written notes in front of him now instead of having to rely on Braille or magnifying reading devices, which he used before.
He said the surgery has allowed him to regain much of his independence.
"I travel on my own again," he said.
He still has his white cane ready if he happens to need it, though.
It also eases the burden on the rest of the family, especially "my travelling companion," referring to his wife Olga.
This is not just a service the Lions provided to a fellow member, but one they will provide to anyone who is blind or vision impaired who requests help.
Needless to say, the experience of going totally blind altered Buhler's perspective when it comes to having the gift of sight. When Buhler had his vision before, he says he had "used it and took it for granted like anyone else."
He makes a point of wearing more protective eyewear in the summer when he's out working outside near the trees than he ever did before, he said, because he doesn't want to run a tree branch into his left eye.
"But the left eye was perhaps just as vulnerable before the surgery," he said. "It's a real waker upper."
It has also altered his own perspective about the Lions organization in which he was already active, after getting a first-hand perspective of what they do for the visually impaired.
"I've got to re-examine my own commitment to Lions and get more active," said Buhler, whose own message to the members was simply to "keep up the good work."
