It was my long awaited eye casualty room shift after a miserable ankle fracture (no thanks to jumping around and age catching up) for nearly 2 frigging months!
I was egg-cited. Routine eye clinic only revolves around glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy screening –> laser PRP or next and it’s pretty mundane and un-exciting. So yeah, time for some real action!
It was a busy shift but towards the end of the day, the tiredness overtook me and I just couldn’t wait to get home for the 3-days long weekend! Then there was this young man who is in his early twenties, coming for a certification for driving license. He failed his colour blindness test and had to be examined by an eye personnel before certifying if he is qualified for driving (no commercial vehicles). A D15 test will routinely be done by our friendly optometrists before having patients sent to us.
This gentleman has a prominent congenital nystagmus and his visual acuity is perception of light (PL) and 6/38. One can only drive when the better eye is 6/12 and above. He looked hopeful. He could identify all the primary colours and D15 revealed that he has protanomaly. I looked at him and told him that I am sorry and I couldn’t pass him with a visual acuity less than 6/12. He immediately broke into tears and pleaded with me to help him. This is a young man who is working with Tesco and had to commute to work daily by himself. No public transport will ferry him from his ‘kampong’ to the city central. As I saw him leaving with hopes dashed and heart broken, I felt a pang in my heart. A pang of pity and guilt? Perhaps, helplessness?
While we all live comfortably in our homes, getting frustrated over dinner choices, I can’t help wonder if all these trivial matters DO MATTER so much after all. The privileges I have enjoyed as a child of a middle class family have never stung so bad until I started serving in the public healthcare system. Money being a limiting factor to treatment. Grab drivers losing their jobs because their vision don’t qualify. Someone losing his income because of blindness likely due to poor diet and zero health consciousness. There is just so much injustice and inequality which I am trying to come to terms with.
And I reckon, education is a platform to transcend this glaring social inequality. Quality education will be a good start.
Doctor on FIRE 