Surgeons help save sight of students shot in eyes

The eye specialists operated on 24 patients while visiting Bangladesh

Surgeons from a specialist London eye hospital have helped save the sight of more than 20 Bangladeshi students who were wounded in last summer's protests in the country.

Mahi Muqit and Niaz Islam, consultant ophthalmologists at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, evaluated 150 patients aged 14 and 30 during their visit to Dhaka last month.

All patients had suffered bullet injuries to the eyes after taking part in protests organised by Students Against Discrimination in July 2024, with the majority receiving initial treatment last year.

Mr Muqit, a senior vitreoretinal consultant at Moorfields, said: "It was an honour to be invited to help these people, and an intense experience for all of us."

"It's such a privilege to be able to restore sight to people who have lived with sight loss for months," he added.

The specialist surgeons operated on 24 patients over two days to save their sight, following invitation from Bangladesh's interim government.

Those who did not have surgery were given a rehabilitation plan.

Eye trauma

Mr Muqit said one of the patients he treated, Rohan, was shot in both eyes.

"He was blinded in both eyes, with one being beyond hope," he said. "Our operation on the other eye fixed his retinal detachment and removed scar tissue.

"We have every expectation that his vision will continue to improve as he recovers from the surgery."

The specialists also discovered that one 20-year-old patient, named Minhaj, still had the original bullets inside his eye from last July.

He required surgery to remove them and repair the damage.

An estimated 1,000 people suffered some form of eye trauma during the demonstrations in July 2024.

About 700 had emergency care from medics at the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIOH) in Dhaka.