{"id":13875,"date":"2019-04-25T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T17:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/?p=13875"},"modified":"2020-02-13T12:47:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T17:47:12","slug":"seeing-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/seeing-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"SEEING THE WORLD"},"content":{"rendered":"
Local ophthalmologist gives the gift of sight to those in need<\/p>\n BY: Mickey Goodman<\/p>\n In 2005, Buckhead resident Dr. Alan Benedict read an article in a medical journal about Surgical Eye Expeditions International (SEE International) and how it was seeking ophthalmologists and medical personnel to volunteer in countries where medical services are slim to none. Doctors not only donate their time and pay their own travel expenses, they also take with them all necessary surgical instruments and supplies, including anesthesia, intravenous drugs, eye drops, lens implants and bandages. Benedict signed up immediately and volunteers every other year.<\/p>\n The long day on a SEE International mission begins when medical volunteers travel by van to a field hospital, where they examine patients who are subsequently transported into the villages for the surgery if needed. They sometimes do 100 surgeries per day.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients are overwhelmingly grateful to get their sight and their independence back and like to give us doctors presents,\u201d says Benedict. \u201cThe most touching gift I ever received was from a man who gave me his walking stick made from a branch. With tears in his eyes he said, \u2018Because of you, I don\u2019t need it anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n SEE International runs entirely on donations and seeks money as well as medical supplies. Since 1974, volunteers such as Benedict have conducted four million screenings and conducted a half-million surgeries in more than 45 countries.<\/p>\n For more information, visit seeintl.org<\/a> and georgiaeye.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Local ophthalmologist gives the gift of sight to those in need BY: Mickey Goodman In 2005, Buckhead resident Dr. Alan Benedict read an article in a medical journal about Surgical Eye Expeditions International (SEE International) and how it was seeking ophthalmologists and medical personnel to volunteer in countries where medical services are slim to none.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":13877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[232,14803,19],"tags":[14831,14833,14830,14832],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>
<\/a>On his first trip, Benedict, who opened Georgia Eye Specialists in Marietta in 1996, went to Namibia, a land of breathtaking beauty and crushing poverty. \u201cWe examined 300 patients and did about 250 surgeries, mostly cataracts, which are a severe problem in impoverished areas,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople develop them at an earlier age than they do in First World countries because of high exposure to the sun, arid environments and poor nutrition. Many become blind as a result and family members have to care for them.\u201d The youngest patient was only 8 years old.<\/p>\n