The Tribune

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

cnixon@tribunemedia.net

A MOTHER is making an urgent plea for help in financing an eye operation for her five-year-old son Tavi Collins, which she hopes will give him better vision and a chance at a normal childhood.

For what will be Tavi’s fourth surgery and second cornea transplant, Erma Bain of Carmichael Road is seeking to raise $20,000.

The child was born with Peters’ Anomaly, an eye disease in which the central part of the cornea, the clear outer covering of the eye, becomes hazy and white, obstructing light from entering the eye and preventing normal vision.

Doctors concluded that while Tavi was in his mother’s womb, his eyes failed to develop fully for unknown reasons.

With no health insurance, Mrs Bain said her family has struggled from day one to raise the money needed for the specialised medical attention and care that Tavi needs.

Appealing to the public to assist with the medical expenses, Mrs Bain said: “We have to do everything on our own – it feels like the journey has been so long,” she said.

At eight months old, Tavi underwent his first surgery, costing $75,000, which widened his cornea and removed some of the dead tissue from his eyes. However his sight was still severely limited.

Then, Tavi was already three months behind his developmental timetable and at three years, he still could not speak or walk.

Following surgery on his right eye in 2010 at the Westchester Medical Centre in New York, doctors believe he experienced true sight for the first time.

Most recently Tavi received stem cell transplant in Ecuador, that Mrs Bain said made a “huge difference.”

Now, at five years-old, although still not speaking properly Tavi is walking and is quite active. Mrs Bain said there was a huge improvement following his first cornea transplant. She believes a second on his left eye would add tremendously to his quality of life.

While she said her family has organised numerous fund-raisers, medical expenses have piled up and her family has only raised $3,000 of the $20,000 needed for Tavi’s surgery scheduled for November in South America.

Frustrated, but determined to see that her son gets the necessary medical care, she said: “It has been a really long struggle – sometimes I feel like we take a couple steps forward and ten steps backwards.”

Donations can be made to Bank of the Bahamas under Elna Bain or Tavi Collins account number 597000643.