Sunrisers bat for a cause

Create awareness on retinoblastoma at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute

Cricketer Yusuf Pathan playing with a toddler as Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor V.V.S. Laxman and head coach Tom Moody look on at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor V.V.S. Laxman and head coach Tom Moody, along with players Yusuf Pathan and Siddharth Kaul, batted for a different cause on Tuesday when they turned up at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute to create awareness on eye cancer – retinoblastoma.

“The services rendered by doctors and support staff who give a fresh lease of life to many children is truly commendable,” said Tom Moody, of the work done at LVPEI. The institute, on its part, would be organising the second edition of Whitathon Run on May 19 on Necklace Road to commemorate World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week and raise funds for free treatment of victims who are suffering from eye cancer.

“This is a cause that is close to us and we at the Sunrisers, including the top management, are privileged to be associated with it. I sincerely wish that the number of patients to undergo treatment, which crossed the 1,000-mark after the first edition of Whitathon last year, crosses the 10,000-mark this year,” he said. Mr. Laxman, the brand ambassador of Whitathon Run, said no child should die of eye cancer owing to lack of awareness and treatment. “But for the LVPEI’s support, care and specialised treatment, things would have been different,” she added. G.N. Rao, founder-chairperson of LVPEI, said 26.04 million patients have been served by the institute since 1987 and it has emerged the biggest eye bank in Asia. “Last year, we treated 1,147 cases of retinoblastoma free of cost, thanks to the funds raised from the Whitathon Run and this year, we hope to treat more, as 5,000 participants are expected to take part in the run,” he said.

Swathi Kaliki, ocular oncologist and head of Operation Eyesight Universal Institute of Eye Cancer at LVPEI, said treating eye cancer was a long-term process and that they were making a conscious effort to spread awareness on the issue through various programmes and their 205 centres.

“It’s time to make detailed eye check up a part of the mandatory paediatric examinations. When the disease is detected early, it is curable,” she concluded.