THE THEORY OF SIX HANDSHAKES

As part of the RetinaDar charitable campaign held by the RetinaFond and Alcon in partnership with the Liga + multifunctional medical center for children and adults, an eight-year-old patient underwent surgery for post-traumatic retinal detachment and swelling cataract.

Surgeon – T.A. Avanesova

There is a theory according to which any two people on our planet are separated by no more than five common acquaintances (six levels of connection). The story of a boy from a Kyrgyz village is a happy confirmation of it.

In July of this year, in a Kyrgyz village near the town of Kyzyl Kiya, while playing, little Bekzat received a penetrating wound in his right eye with a wooden board. At the place of residence, he received surgical assistance. However, two weeks later, another operation was needed, which was carried out in Bishkek. The eye was saved! But the happy ending of this story was prevented by the revealed detachment of the retina, which, of course, required urgent help from an ophthalmologist again. It turned out to be impossible to do this on the spot. The search for a doctor began. And just then the theory worked, and even faster than after six handshakes. The sister of Bekzat’s mother is a classmate of Aisaltyn, who works in an ophthalmological clinic in Moscow. Two years ago, in the same clinic, vitreoretinal operations (operations on the retina) were performed by Tatiana Andreevna Avanesova. Aisaltyn sent the boy’s discharge summary with a request for help. Tatiana Andreevna responded with a willingness to examine the child, and then decide on further treatment. But, given the quarantine and closed borders, the child and his mother could not just buy tickets and come.

To draw up documents for entry to the Russian Federation, the management of the Liga + Clinic prepared invitations for the Kyrgyz Embassy. The boy arrived with his mother, and the examination revealed a retinal detachment with gross cicatricial changes, lens opacity. And on September 5, 2020, as part of the RetinaDar charity campaign (to the unexpected joy of the boy’s relatives, since they did not know about the campaign), the operation was carried out free of charge.

Given the complexity of the case, the boy still has ahead another stage of the operation, and perhaps more than one. But even now Bekzat can see not only light, he distinguishes objects.

We will hope that Bekzat will do just as well in the future.