UAE Helping Hands: Driver needs operation to avoid blindness

Without surgery costing Dh27,000. Ethiopian Abdunaser Hassen, 24, could become blind and will lose his job as a driver for a distribution company.

Ethiopian Abdunasir Hassen who needs donations for an operation to his right eye that will cost Dh27,000. Antonie Robertson / The National

A driver for a distribution firm in Abu Dhabi needs Dh27,000 to save his sight.

ABU DHABI // Abdunasir Hassen will lose his sight if he does not have eye surgery soon.

For the past six years, the Ethiopian’s eyesight has deteriorated from progressive keratoconus in both eyes.

Without surgery costing Dh27,000. Mr Hassen, 24, could become blind and will lose his job as a driver for a distribution company.

As he earns Dh2,000 a month and has no health insurance, he is desperate for help.

“My eyesight in my left is OK and I had no problems driving,” Mr Hassen said. “If I shut my right eye I can see perfectly but I need both eyes for driving.

“I am worried my condition will develop and I’ll go blind. My job depends on my eyesight.”

Keratoconus is a degenerative disorder that causes the cornea to thin out and turns the eye into a conical shape.

Mr Hassen’s medical report states that he has progressive keratoconus stage three in his right eye, and keratoconus stage one in his left.

If untreated the disease develops to stage four, which requires a corneal transplant.

Mr Hassan came to the UAE two years ago to support his three sisters, three brothers and elderly parents in Ethiopia.

He never expected that his eyesight would get this bad.

“I always wore glasses and kept changing them to stronger ones,” he said.

“I just thought it was normal and I had a weak eyesight but now I can barely see with my right eye and my left eye is getting worse. I don’t know what will happen if I lose my job and no one can take care of me if I lose my eyesight. My family depend on the money I send back home every month.

“I’ll be an added burden to everyone if I go back home and won’t be able to work to support them or myself.”

Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of zakat and social services at Dar Al Ber Society, said: “Mr Hassen needs Dh27,000 to save his eyesight and his job, which he needs to support his family back home.

“He has no one to support him to help pay for the operation.”