Thanks to his long-standing friendship and collaboration with Huong Duong, MD a cornea specialist and lecturer at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital in Vietnam, Dr. Tran’s visit became a dedicated effort to serve others.
“We are both Vietnamese and it's amazing to see a Vietnamese American working with Vietnamese people and recovering eyesight for Vietnamese patients,” Dr. Duong said. “I think it's a beautiful story. So, thank you Eversight for facilitating.”
Meeting a critical need
In Vietnam, access to corneal tissue is extremely limited. Religious beliefs, cultural barriers and a lack of local donation infrastructure leave thousands of patients waiting for sight-restoring surgeries.
“We do have a shortage of corneal supplies,” Dr. Duong explained. “The tissue donated and provided by Eversight has helped our patients tremendously in recovering the vision, in preserving the eye globe in severe infection or trauma. Our hospital and our surgeons are very thankful for the work that Eversight has done for us.”
Because of this scarcity, selecting the patients for surgery was rigorous. The team prioritized individuals who were bilaterally blind, often living with only light perception, and who were in their working years—patients whose restored vision could transform not only their own lives but their families’ futures.
Most of the patients treated suffered from scarring caused by severe infections, the leading cause of corneal blindness in Vietnam. But among them was one young woman who left an especially deep impression.
A new beginning
A young woman in her twenties with macular corneal dystrophy had been on the waiting list for more than three years; her world reduced to shadows.
“Her vision before surgery in both eyes was very low,” Dr. Duong recalled. “After one week, her vision was 0.1 and 0.2 [the equivalent to 20/100 and 20/200 vision in the U.S.]. It’s a tremendous improvement in her life. She can work and study. It’s a life-changing experience for her.”
“You're my doctor, and this is the first time that I’m seeing you,” are words Dr. Duong will never forget.
For a young woman who once feared she could not build a future for herself, restored sight meant freedom, hope and dignity.
“Now she feels like she has a very long and happy life ahead of her,” Dr. Duong said. “Right at week one she was already asking, ‘When can I have my second transplant in the other eye?’”
The ripple effect of donation
These five surgeries were only possible because of the generosity of eye donors and their families.
“We have a very deep gratitude towards the donor, as well as their family,” Dr. Duong emphasized. “For the family, despite all the things they go through in losing a loved one, to still help us honor the donor with this gift—I think that’s a beautiful story. Their family member passed away, but part of them still lives and has a very meaningful impact.”
The donated corneas allowed surgeons at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital to refresh and practice transplant skills—an invaluable opportunity in a country where procedures are rare.
“That is the only time we have done transplants in 2025,” she said. “We have only been able to refresh our skills from time to time in wet labs. Here, we got to shake the rust off our skills, and we also had young surgeons scrubbing in.”
These local surgeons and professionals received hands-on training that will help them serve countless patients in the future.
“Eversight has been working closely with the Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital organizing skills transfer courses for local surgeons and have been very kind in sponsoring gratis corneal tissue for our patients,” Dr. Duong said.
In 2024, Eversight partnered with Visionaries International to train surgeons and restore sight across Southeast Asia.
“Eversight provided life-changing opportunities for our patients, helped our surgeons in learning and contributed precious data for our research. It is a very multifaceted effort,” Dr. Duong said.
This trip was just the beginning
For Dr. Duong, the meaning of this work is simple and profound.
“Vision opens the door for a person’s life in many ways,” she said. “When you have good vision, you can enjoy your day with your loved ones, you can work, make things better for yourself, for your loved ones and for society in general. It’s not just a small impact on one person or family unit. It can have a very big impact on society.”
Thanks to the generosity of donors and their families, and the partnership between surgeons like Drs. Tran and Duong and Eversight’s global aid program, that impact is being felt every day in Vietnam through the five patients whose sight was restored, returning them back to work and their community.
“The U.S. has had a long history of eye banking and in Vietnam we are just starting, so it is always a privilege to learn from a legacy,” Dr. Duong said.
As Dr. Tran put it, this trip was just the beginning: “I’m hoping to do a lot more to support and assist Dr. Huong. She has a vision for corneal transplantation in Vietnam. And I think it’s a beautiful story.”
