Eye-gouging boy receives operation in Shenzhen

SHENZHEN - A six-year-old boy whose eyes were gouged out in a recent attack received an artificial eye transplant operation on Tuesday afternoon.

The operation began around noon and ended at about 6 pm at C-MER (Shenzhen) Dennis Lam Eye Hospital, which is run by Hong Kong doctor Dennis Lam, in Shenzhen city in South China's Guangdong province.

An artificial eye was placed in the right eye socket of Guo Bin, who was lured into a field by a woman on Aug 24 in North China's Shanxi province, where the woman gouged out the boy's eyes.

The suspect was identified later by Chinese police as the boy's aunt based on an investigation and DNA test results. She jumped into a well near her home and died on Aug 30.

Doctors used autologous fat transfer on Guo's left eye instead of an artificial eye transplant because there was not enough tissue to support the eye and and the area had a number of scars, according to Lam.

Scleral shells, a type of ocular prosthesis, are expected to be placed in four to six weeks to give the appearance of normal eyes, he said.

Lam was optimistic about the boy's recovery and said he could produce tears normally when he recovers.

The hospital will train the boy to use a sensory navigation tool by the end of this year, which he will be able to use to walk independently. A German institution has hoped to offer free training on the equipment, according to Lam.

The cost of the operation and future rehabilitation is about $50,000, which will be wholly exempted by the hospital, said Lam.

The hospital has contacted several psychological experts to give the boy counseling in the near future, he said.

The boy appeared brave during the operation, smiling before he was pushed into the operation room.

"I want to be a man. I will not cry," Guo Bin was quoted by Lam as saying.

C-MER (Shenzhen) Dennis Lam Eye Hospital, which opened on March 21 of this year, is the first solely Hong Kong-funded hospital in the Chinese mainland.

The boy's tragic experience has led to national concern. His family has received more than one million yuan ($162,085) in donations, according to media reports.

The Taiyuan Deaf-mute School in the Shanxi provincial capital of Taiyuan said earlier it will offer the boy free education when he is able to attend school.