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Nepalese eye doctor is first 2007 Reader’s Digest Asian of the Year
FOR his humanitarian and extraordinary achievements, Reader’s Digest Asia has named Dr. Sanduk Ruit the first RD Asian of the Year for 2007.
He is recognized by RD Asia
editors for his humanitarian work in helping thousands of blind
people in Asia see.
In the last 23 years, Dr. Ruit
has been performing miracles. He has helped restore the eyesight of
many Asia’s poorest people, rescuing them from a lifetime of
misery. The 52-year-old doctor has personally conducted close to
70,000 cataract surgeries, often saving more than 100 people a day
from blindness.
By developing simpler and cheaper
techniques, he has brought the cataract procedure within reach of
thousands in Asia who could not otherwise have access to it. Dr.
Ruit travels across to teach his methods. He likes to go to
countries with the greatest need.
The Reader’s Digest Asian of
the Year is selected by the Asian editors of the magazine as the
person who best embodies the contemporary expression of Asia’s
values and traditions.
“We wanted somebody who is
working to shape the future of Asia, somebody we can look up to,
somebody we can be proud of,†says Jim Plouffe, the editor in
chief of the English magazine in Asia.
Dr. Ruit will be receiving the
award and a check of $5,000 in an official ceremony to be held in
India.
“I feel greatly encouraged by
this award and it will help me further my prospects of the fight
against blindness particularly in this part of the world. I have
plans to go for surgical camps and training the locals in North
Korea, Myanmar and China. I will probably use the award money in
future cataract research, which is close to my heart,†says Dr.
Ruit.
A full account of the life and
achievements of Dr. Sanduk Ruit “Miracles by the Thousands†is
published simultaneously in all the January Asian editions of
Reader’s Digest to inspire millions across Asia.