More than 100 people in Ghana had their sight restored this year thanks to the efforts of Williston Park resident Robert Nelson and an organization called Unite for Sight.
Nelson, who has been a physician’s assistant specializing in opthamology for the past 20 years, is executive director of Island Eye Surgicenter in Carle Place.
He often assists Dr. Gerard D’Aversa of Opthalmic Consultants of Long Island on surgical procedures at Island Eye.
D’Aversa had long promised his children that he would do something meaningful with them to help other people.
When his daughter Jaclyn, a junior at Barnard College, told her father that a non-profit organization called Unite for Sight was seeking help from physicians for a mission to Ghana, he saw his opportunity to fulfill his promise to her.
“I’ve always been involved in volunteer work so I knew I wanted to pursue volunteer work in a developing country that could really gain from a pair of helping hands,” Jaclyn D’Aversa said.
The D’Aversas asked Nelson to help, and he immediately reached out to several ophthalmic supply companies he works with for assistance.
“I have a very good relationship with these companies,” Nelson said. “That really became my mission because I wasn’t going to be going on the mission. When I saw their passion for what they were going to do, I wanted to make sure their mission would be 150 percent successful.”
D’Aversa drew support from Abbott Medical Optics, Alcon Surgical, Allergen Pharmaceuticals, Sharpoint and ISTA Pharmaceuticals, which collectively donated $80,000 worth of optical surgical supplies for the March mission.
But the key to the mission’s success was the acquisition of a $50,000 Phacoemulsification machine to enable D’Aversa to perform sight-restoring surgery on the patients he would be treating in Ghana.
D’Aversa and his daughter raised money from his patients and friends and ran bake sales to ultimately raise the money for the machine.
The machine had to be transported to Ghana by ship preceding their 10-day mission, pass through customs and then be transported to Accra, Ghana in the North Western Eye Clinic there.
That was a major hurdle.
“We were never certain it would arrive because there’s a lot of corruption over there,” Nelson said.
But the machine did arrive, intact and on time.
Nelson said the clinic put the word out in local communities that an American doctor was coming to do the specialized surgical work, and patients needing treatment for cataracts and other vision problems traveled from miles around to be there when D’Aversa and his daughter arrived.
With his daughter assisting, D’Aversa performed approximately 100 surgeries with the Phaco machine in 10 days, operating from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. most of the time.
But D’Aversa credits Nelson for making it all possible.
“We are so grateful to Island Eye and the others,” D’Aversa said. “Not only were we able to bring enough supplies to get the clinic up and running, but now they have enough supplies to last about a year or so. Bob Nelson was a tremendous resource in making it all possible.”
D’Aversa trained doctors at the clinic on the Phaco machine from Advanced Medical Optics to ensure that the mission would continue. And it has, according to Nelson, who said that some patients who are able to pay for their eye surgery make it possible to keep treating patients who can’t afford the cost.
“It was such a satisfying experience for me. It was just a tremendous sense of satisfaction and we made such a positive impact on the patients they treated in Ghana,” Nelson said.
Nelson, who has lived in Williston Park for the past 33 years, said it’s always been part of his mission at Island Eye Surgicenter to help patients who require assistance in paying for their surgical procedures.
“Island Eye is involved in charitable care in community. We help patients in need,” he said.
Island Eye directs patients to Medicaid and other sources of assistance, often donating its resources to help out, he said.
But for Nelson, the D’Aversa’s mission to Ghana was an extraordinary experience.
“I love what I do and the ability to give back and help others really was very rewarding for me,” Nelson said.
And he said there may be future missions for Island Surgicenter, as D’Aversa is encouraging his physician colleagues there to follow his lead.
