UK surgeons help save sight of Bangladeshi students shot in eyes during July uprising

British surgeons from a specialist eye hospital in London have helped save the sight of more than 20 Bangladeshi students who were wounded in the July 2024 mass uprising, reports BBC. 

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 in March this year.

All patients had suffered bullet injuries to the eyes after taking part in protests organised by Students Against Discrimination in July 2024 and most of them received initial treatment last year.

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

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

Muqit, a senior vitreoretinal consultant at Moorfields, told BBC, "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."

Muqit said one of the patients he treated, named 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, 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 protests in July-August 2024.

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