Doctors Help Restore Vision For Ny Tim

WCSH-TV

SOUTH PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) -- Ny Tim lost his vision six years ago after developing a condition called pterygium.

He wouldn't have been able to afford the surgery for that condition in his native Cambodia. So doctors here in Maine came to the rescue.

Thanks to Dr. David Heward of VSP Vision Care and ophthalmologist Dr. Charles Zachs, Tim now has twenty-forty vision in his right eye.

Dr. Heward says the damage to Tim's eyes was caused by over exposure to ultra violet rays. Tim spent most of his life farming and working in the rice fields under the intense Cambodian sun.

"The ultra violet can damage the cornea, as it did in his case," says Dr. Heward, "but it can also cause cataracts which is more common in our country or it can go right through the eye and create a loss of vision by burning the retina."

Ny Tim says he will be forever grateful to the doctors here in Maine for restoring his vision. When he goes home he will be able to see -- really see -- his wife and children for the first time in many years.

NEWS CENTER