Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s eye donation not just gave the gift of sight to four people, but also boosted eye donation and pledging. Narayana Nethralaya that runs the Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank has recorded a huge spike in donations since Mr Puneeth’s eye donation on October 29.
K. Bhujang Shetty, chairman and managing director of Narayana Nethralaya, said the eye bank has received nearly 71,577 eye pledges since October. “We have collected 986 eyes since October of which only 96 were before the late actor’s donation. The numbers are higher than the pre-COVID period and are increasing every month. So far in this month we have collected 146 eyes,” he said.
“While we had seen a total of around 60,000 pledges in the 28 years of the eye bank’s existence, a whopping 71,577 pledges have been recorded in the last five months alone. Of these, 55,850 pledges are online through our missed call facility. We have launched an exclusive number - 8884018800 - through which people who wish to pledge their eyes can register their names,” the doctor added.
