At least 1,000 people took part in a walkathon alongside differently-abled to raise awareness on eye donation on Friday
Project Vision, a non-profit organisation, organised the walkathon titled 'Blindwalk' at Marina beach. Around 500 people walked blindfolded along with 150 visually-impaired persons and 100 volunteers.
Treasurer of Society for Rights of Women with Disabilities (SFRWD), P Aruna Devi, a visually-challenged achiever herself, participated in the walk.
"They are ready to donate their eyes after their death. Also live life when they are living. Today I am standing here because of my supported sighted friends, and then only I have studied," said Devi.
The walk saw people from different walks of life participate. Consulate General of Belgium in Chennai, De Groof Bart, who flagged off the walkathon, said he felt that to make life easier for visually-impaired people, it is important to have friendly structures and buildings.
"It's really a challenging experience I must say. You never know what will happen to you. There can be all kinds of obstacles and it's very difficult to find your pairings. So, I think most important are two things: First of all, the infrastructure should be such a way that we have as less obstacles as possible that we don't have problems crossing the street and getting access to buildings, and, second thing is also very important. I think for all of us that if we see to have little bit difficulty because they are visually impaired, I think all of us should have the intention to help," said Bart.
According to a survey conducted by Project Vision, the state has exceeded its targets in eye donations in the last few years. There are nine government eye banks and 14 eye banks run by NGOs across the state.