SECOND SUNS RELIN Two Trailblazing Doctors and Their Quest to Cure Blindness, One Pair of Eyes at a Time
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“Readers often tell me of their doubts about RELIN humanitarian aid, and it’s true that helping people is always harder than it looks. But sometimes it’s almost miraculous: SECOND A $25 surgery . to restore a person’s sight.” —NICHOLAS KRISTOF, SECOND SUNS The New York Times Trailblazing DoctorsTwo and Their Quest to Cure Blindness, One at Pair a Time of Eyes SUNS Two Trailblazing Doctors and Their Quest to ECOND S UN S is the true story Master storyteller David Oliver Relin S of two very different doctors on brings the doctors’ patients to vivid life, Cure Blindness, One Pair of Eyes at a Time a quest to rid the world of prevent- from old men who can once able blindness. Geoffrey Tabin was a again navigate mountain high-achieving “bad boy” at Harvard trails to children seeing Reader’s Guide Medical School. Sanduk Ruit grew their mothers’ faces for “Should be required reading up in the Himalayas, where cata- the first time in years. 30 photographs for anybody with an interest in ract blindness is epidemic. Together, Through their Hima- humanitarian philanthropy—or, they developed a pioneering surgery, layan Cataract Project, for that matter, a desire to feel a and today, they have restored sight Ruit and Tabin are changing little better about the world.” to 100,000 people—and counting. the world—one pair of eyes at a time. —Outside “A hopeful work, a profile of two “Compelling and inspiring.” doctors . bringing light to those —WASHINGTON POst in darkness.” —TIME “A detailed, heartfelt account.” —K IRKUS Journalist DAVID OLIVER RELIN (1962–2012) was a recipient of the Kiriyama Prize and a James A. Michener Fellowship. He coauthored the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea. The publisher will donate a portion of its proceeds on the sale of this book to the Himalayan Cataract Project. CureBlindness.org THE EXPERIMENT ■ NEW YORK $16.95 US MEDICINE|BIOGRAPHY DAVID OLIVER RELIN BECAUSE EVERY BOOK IS A TEST OF NEW IDEAS theexperimentpublishing.com 5 1 6 9 5 With a new foreword by PAUL FARMER, cofounder of Partners in Health, @experimentbooks and an afterword by DR. GEOFFREY TABIN Also available as an ebook 9 7 8 1 6 1 5 1 9 3 6 2 2 Second Suns Cover Mechanical.indd All Pages 7/28/16 4:34 PM SECOND SUNS TWO TRAILBLAZING DOCTORS AND THEIR QUEST TO CURE BLINDNESS, ONE PAIR OF EYES AT A TIME THE EXPERIMENT COPYRIGHT MATERIAL David Oliver Relin Foreword by Paul Farmer Afterword by Dr. Geoffrey Tabin THEEXPERIMENT BECAUSEEVERY BOnewOK ISyorkATESTOFNEW IDEAS This text file has been provided by The Experiment for purposes of review only. It may only be used by authorized recipients and may not be reproduced, copied, circulated, published, or posted online. Second Suns_PB_FM.indd 1 7/29/16 2:05 PM To Dawn, who brightens my days Second Suns: Two Trailblazing Doctors and Their Quest to Cure Blindness, One Pair of Eyes at a Time Copyright © 2013, 2016 by D. Relin Foreword copyright © 2016 by Paul Farmer Afterword copyright © 2016 by Geoffrey Tabin The publisher will donate a portion of its proceeds on the sale of this book to the Himalayan Cataract Project. Published by arrangement with Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The Experiment, LLC, 220 East 23rd Street, Suite 301, New York, NY 10010-4674 www.theexperimentpublishing.com Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and The Experiment was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been capitalized. The Experiment’s books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fundraising or educational use. For details, contact us at [email protected]. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Relin, David Oliver, author. Title: Second suns : two trailblazing doctors and their quest to cure blindness,THE one EXPERIMENT pair of eyes at a time / David Oliver Relin. Description: New COPYRIGHTYork : The Experiment, [2016] MATERIAL | Originally published: New York : Random House, c2013. Identifiers: LCCN 2016018508 (print) | LCCN 2016025838 (ebook) | ISBN 9781615193622 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781615193639 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Cataract--Surgery--Nepal. | Cataract--Surgery. Classification: LCC RE31 .R45 2016 (print) | LCC RE31 (ebook) | DDC 617.7/42059--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018508 ISBN 978-1-61519-362-2 Ebook ISBN 978-1-61519-363-9 Cover design by Sarah Smith Cover photograph by Ace Kvale Spine image © Lonely | Shutterstock Text design by Victoria Wong Manufactured in the United States of America Distributed by Workman Publishing Company, Inc. Distributed simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen and Son Ltd. First printing September 2016 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This text file has been provided by The Experiment for purposes of review only. It may only be used by authorized recipients and may not be reproduced, copied, circulated, published, or posted online. Second Suns_PB_FM.indd 2 7/29/16 2:05 PM Contents Foreword by Paul Farmer v CHAPTER 1: See You 3 CHAPTER 2: Wound Construction 12 CHAPTER 3: Here You Are 26 CHAPTER 4: Burn the Day 34 CHAPTER 5: Down from the Moon 47 CHAPTER 6: Stones on Your Chest 61 CHAPTER 7: Daylight in the Dark 75 CHAPTER 8: A Bit of Sport 90 THE EXPERIMENT CHAPTER 9: The Problem of Her Eyes 103 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL CHAPTER 10: The Eighth Summit 118 CHAPTER 11: If You Can Dream 133 CHAPTER 12: Stream of Sesame Seeds 152 CHAPTER 13: The Most Eyes on Earth 167 CHAPTER 14: Three Shirts a Day 176 CHAPTER 15: The Wave Is Water 190 CHAPTER 16: Rock Meets Bone 203 CHAPTER 17: Sir Is Willing 216 CHAPTER 18: Load Shedding 228 CHAPTER 19: Burn the Old House Down 245 This text file has been provided by The Experiment for purposes of review only. It may only be used by authorized recipients and may not be reproduced, copied, circulated, published, or posted online. Second Suns_PB_FM.indd 3 7/29/16 2:05 PM CHAPTER 20: Ravishing Beautiful Flowers 259 CHAPTER 21: Clear Vision for Life 277 CHAPTER 22: The Singing Bowls of Swayambhunath 287 CHAPTER 23: Eye Contact 307 CHAPTER 24: The Road Is Coming 326 CHAPTER 25: This Is Rwanda 346 CHAPTER 26: Hands, Eyes, Heart 372 CHAPTER 27: The Winter Trail 385 Afterword by Dr. Geoffrey Tabin 408 Author’s Note 415 Reader’s Guide 418 Acknowledgments 420 THE EXPERIMENT COPYRIGHT MATERIAL This text file has been provided by The Experiment for purposes of review only. It may only be used by authorized recipients and may not be reproduced, copied, circulated, published, or posted online. Second Suns_PB_FM.indd 4 7/29/16 2:05 PM FOREWORD When the Bandages Come Off by Paul Farmer nyone who isn’t deeply moved by this book must have a heart of Astone. Second Suns, by the late David Oliver Relin, offers much more than its subtitle promises, which is to tell the tale of “two trail- blazing doctors and their quest to cure blindness.” The story is richer than that. The two doctors in question—Sanduk Ruit of Nepal and the American Geoff Tabin, both ophthalmologists—don’t even meet until halfway through the book. Relin’s account unfurls like a good and true story should, and he lays out their encounter and subsequent collabora- tion, Ruit as mentor to Tabin, as both serendipitous and inevitable. The goal of this collaboration is to end blindness among the poor, first in Ruit’s native Nepal and then, well, everywhere. This goal would be unlikely if Sanduk Ruit had not developed new microsurgicalTHE methods EXPERIMENT of replacing cataracts with artificial lenses, which he and his COPYRIGHTprotégés install in the MATERIALblink of an eye and without the fuss and risk and sutures that until recently characterized the surgical treatment of cataracts. Even acknowledging this innovation, the goal might still be seen as immodest, since development of revolutionary new therapies is not the same thing as a revolution in delivering them to people living in poverty. Cataracts are, after all, the leading cause of blindness in much of the world. But Ruit and his ever-enlarging team have worked across Nepal, scrambling up to most Himalayan villages, like the one in which he was born, to do just that. Discovery, in this instance, was followed by development and refinement, then by deliv- ery. That’s how medicine should work. Just that story alone—restoring vision to Sherpas and others living near the top of the world, but near the bottom as far as access to health This text file has been provided by The Experiment for purposes of review only. It may only be used by authorized recipients and may not be reproduced, copied, circulated, published, or posted online. Second Suns_PB_FM.indd 5 7/29/16 2:05 PM vi / Second Suns care goes—would be an inspiring one. But that’s just for starters. Since scrambling up the icy scree of the Himalayas is the sort of thing Geoff Tabin does before breakfast, the long-ago collision of the energetic young American and the reserved and courtly doctor from Nepal is a bit more plausible.