Hundreds Participate In Bengaluru's Blind Walk, Guided By Visually Impaired

Bengaluru: Those of us who can see, often take our sight for granted. The Blind Walk has been organised in 55 locations in five countries to give sighted people a brief experience of what it is like to not be able to see. The aim - to encourage eye donations.

In Bengaluru today, the walk began at the St John's Hospital and went on to Forum Mall. Blindfolds on, sighted people in Bengaluru stepped out onto the roads of the city. Their guides - visually disabled people for whom being sightless is part of life.

One of the visually-challenged participants, Sushil Kumar, told NDTV, "We are already independent - but if people donate eyes our lives would be even better."
 There are an estimated 15 million visually challenged people in India but the number of eye donations is just not enough.

Jayashree of Project Vision which organised the event in the city said, "About three million people could see again if they got cornea donations... But what we are actually getting is just about one-tenth of that. Age is not a factor - even 90 year old people can donate their eyes."

Ammu, a Staff Nurse at St John's was wearing a blindfold for the walk. She told NDTV, "This way we can understand for at least a little while what it is like."