Help Joseph Sesay Regain Vision

Joseph is an exchange student with the American Field Service (AFS).  He is from Sierra Leone and was born with congenital cataracts.  The absence of eye treatments in his country caused the cataracts to develop fully, until he was effectively blind by the age of three. He has no memory of anything approaching “normal vision.” His first ever visit to an  ophthalmologist was here in Boise in August when he saw Adam Reynolds, M.D. at the Southwest Idaho Eye Institute.  Dr. Reynolds diagnosed his condition as treatable, but he felt the extent of the cataracts was beyond treatment locally. He sent a letter to Dr. Alan Crandall, chief surgeon at the Moran Eye Institute at the University of Utah Hospitals, recommending that Joseph be considered as a charity case.  Joseph comes from very humble origins, as his parents are farmers in a small village in Sierra Leone.

During his initial appointment with Joseph last week, Dr. Crandall confirmed that he would remove Joseph’s cataracts and the prognosis after surgery was very good. Joseph will need to wear corrective eyeglasses, but the “veil will be lifted” and he will see much more clearly. 

The Moran Eye Institute has stated that “other costs” related to Joseph’s surgery are estimated at $7,500. The normal total cost of his procedure is $30,000-$40,000 so the $7,500 amount, while high, is a small price to pay for dramatically improving his vision and potentially changing his life in a significant way.

Any balance raised beyond what is needed to cover Joseph's "other costs" will be donated directly to the Milton Margai School for the Blind, Joseph's alma mater back in Sierra Leone.