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neck of the woods | prof ile

CAN BLINDNESS BE ELIMINATED?
MATT: Absolutely. 100%. Most blindness is treatable. It is a problem we
can solve! There are over 20 million people who are blind from cataracts that
could have their sight fixed with a relatively straightforward and inexpensive
surgery. We don't need new innovative treatments or expensive technology; we
just need to mobilize what we know and apply the resources to it.
I totally think it's plausible to eliminate cataract blindness in the world. People who are
blind in both eyes can't see their loved ones or do activities of daily living. The goal is not
for visiting surgeons to do large numbers of cataract surgeries, but to teach the locals
and empower them. The main tenets of Cure Blindness are training, infrastructure, and
finding the poor and forgotten people who are blind and giving them access to surgery.

WHAT REWARDS DO YOU FIND IN
INTERNATIONAL WORK?
MATT: It's an awesome moment to share with another person! One day you operate
and the next day, while taking off their patches, you can watch this transformation hap-
pen as they see again. Their whole persona changes right in front of your eyes. It’s a very
emotional moment to share with another person and their family. On this most recent
trip, I operated on about 50 children that had cataracts in one or both eyes. It’s doubly
meaningful when a kid, who has their whole life ahead of them, can suddenly see.

I get to work with heroes! There are doctors, nurses, and staff living in remote places
who are on the frontlines of blindness. Every day they do 60, 80, 100 surgeries, whether
it's on the Nepal border, or in a remote village in Ethiopia. These doctors and nurses have
dedicated their lives to making life better for people. And I show up and get to work
with these local heroes.

IT’S ALL HERE

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44 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | winter 2022