The eye man of the area, Dr Ashok Jain, who served the society selflessly by bringing the vision back to the eyes of hundreds of people was lying on his death bed in the absence of medical help until the Divisional Commissioner of Saharanpur Sanjay Kumar initiated help and ensured that he gets the best of treatment.

Dr Ashok Jain, 72, was admitted to Saksham Hospital on Thursday morning by the district health officials of Saharanpur.

“My father has been moved to the hospital and would be getting proper treatment,” his son Suraj said adding that he is grateful to the Divisional Commissioner Sanjay Kumar for his kind gesture.

Dr Ashok Jain is the founder of Roshni Eye bank and Charitable Eye Hospital running in Saharanpur since past many years. Its brand ambassador is Bollywood actress Kainaat Arora who also hails from Saharanpur.

“So far I have extracted 648 Retinas and given to the Himalayan Institute Jolly Grant and earlier LLRM Medical College of Meerut,” said Dr Jain in a faint voice adding that, however, he could not extract any retina since past four months.

Dr Jain is suffering from the cancer of food pipe and is not able to swallow food due to which he is on a liquid diet. Living in a state of poverty, the family of Dr Jain, which comprises of son Suraj, his wife Anshu, and a seven-year-old grandson is finding itself helpless in getting any relief for him.

Unfortunately, the man who had served the society for years was not reciprocated in kind by society.

“People come here, click photos, and then vanish but no one came forward for any help,” told daughter-in-law Anshu. Suraj is the only breadwinner for the family who makes a living by working as an electrician. Hence, he could not afford to provide better treatment to his father. He was on Ayurvedic treatment, told Anshu.

The family lives in a three-storied charitable eye hospital in Preet Vihar colony of Saharanpur.

“Though Suraj has been trained to extract retina by me the mission has received a serious jolt after the news of my illness spread,” claimed Dr Jain, saying that his desire is to extract one last retina before his death.

The news of the illness of Dr Jain and his poor condition somehow reached the commissioner Saharanpur who immediately called the district health officials and instructed them to visit Dr Jain and report to him. AD health and City Magistrate  Saharanpur reached there with a team which performed the check-up and reported to the commissioner. “He is also having heart problem besides cancer and is in a poor condition,” told Kumar, on whose instructions Dr Jain was taken to the hospital on Thursday in an ambulance and his treatment started.

The life of Dr Ashok Jain is truly inspirational. He originally hails from Moga of Punjab. Inspired by his father who was in the Navy, Ashok became a boxer. In the early years of his life, he lost his vision in a boxing match. He experienced the world of blindness and turmoil faced by the visually impaired. He somehow got donors of the retina and got back his vision. It was then that he started working to create awareness about eye donation. In this mission, he got the love and support of his wife Kusum who died in an accident a few years back.

Dr Jain toured the entire country on a bicycle and encouraged people for eye donation. He got a pledge of eye donation from many celebrities as well. Meanwhile, he did a course of paramedical from LLRM Medical College of Meerut and learnt to extract the retina. He settled in Saharanpur and opened Roshni Eye Bank in which he got the support of his wife as well.

Impressed by his selfless service to mankind, DM Saharanpur Alok Kumar helped him in forming a trust and getting funds to build Roshni Charitable Eye Bank and Hospital. Dr Jain continued to provide his services. He used to extract retinas and give them to Himalayan Hospital of Jolly Grant for which he would get Rs 500 each. From Saharanpur to Jolly Grant, Dehradun, he would go on a bike which was also given to him in charity. OPD for Rs 20 per head is still functional and free check-up is done for the extremely poor.

Dr Jain has no bank balance or property but lives with the satisfaction of bringing the vision to the lives of 648 people.