Guernsey’s Michelle Le Cheminant, a consultant anaesthetist with the Medical Specialist Group, spoke about her work for the blindness prevention charity Orbis UK at a national fundraising appeal launch last night attended by Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex.
The Countess, who is Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, listened as charity representatives outlined how the Orbis Surgical Fund Appeal will provide 17,000 operations to adults and children across Ethiopia, Nepal and Bangladesh, tackling debilitating conditions such as trachomatous trichiasis, cataract and strabismus.
Having previously travelled with the charity to India and Bangladesh, Her Royal Highness has witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of avoidable blindness on people’s lives.
Dr Le Cheminant told delegates, “As an anaesthetist my role is to work together with the team to care for patients during their whole surgical journey. I’ve been volunteering with Orbis for five years now and have been fortunate enough to join them on projects in Vietnam, Mongolia, China and Malawi.”
“From early on in my career I’ve been committed to improving medical education in low and middle-income countries. As an anaesthetist I really see first-hand the life-changing impact that a simple surgical procedure can have. A grandparent seeing their grandchild for the first time, a parent returning to the workforce, a child playing with their friends. All these things are made possible on an Orbis project.”
“The legacy of Orbis is truly special and something I have witnessed time and time again. On my first Orbis project in Binh Dinh, Vietnam I trained a young anaesthetic doctor called Dr. Ngoc. Several years later I met her again on a project in Hue and it was amazing to see how she had developed into a confident and competent clinician. It was an emotional moment and for me, this really reinforced the unique value of Orbis and their long-term partnerships.”
