Hadassah doctors save Sderot resident's eyesight

After a rocket struck his home, Shimon Ben Shoshon and his family were evacuated from Sderot to a hotel at the Dead Sea. 

This week, doctors and optometrists from the Hadassah Medical Center, in collaboration with the Department of Optometry at the Hadassah Academic College, conducted eye examinations and tests and provided free eyeglasses. 

Following a specialist examination from the Eye Department at Hadassah, Shimon Ben Shoshon was urgently referred for further treatment at the hospital, which ultimately saved his eyes.

Hadassah specialists have conducted some 600 tests among Israelis displaced from the south, and those who needed them were provided with free glasses.

"The demand for eye examinations and eyeglasses is significant,” said Dr. Hadas Ben-Eli, the director of the Optometry and Biometry at Hadassah Medical Center. “In just three days, we conducted six hundred tests and distributed eyeglasses to people who needed them. We plan to return for another day to provide the immediate response needed by the people from the communities bordering Gaza."

A timely decision

When Shimon, a 58-year-old now residing with his family in one of the Dead Sea hotels, learned about Hadassah's eye tests, he decided to get checked. 

“Shimon came to me with a history of diabetes, which can lead to multi-system damage to the eyes, even blindness,” said Dr. Shahar Luski from the Ophthalmology Department. "During the test, I noticed signs of diabetes in the eyes, requiring immediate treatment. I referred him for further treatment at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.” 

There, Shimon received treatment that included an eye injection, preventing irreversible deterioration of his eyesight.