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Justin Kaspar, 71, who lives in Kelmė, has lived without one eye for almost 7 decades and sees a lot with the other, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying every day and transmitting positivity to others. Speaking to the National Transplant Office (NTB) of the Ministry of Health, J. Kaspar reveals his source of optimism.
When Justin was just three years old, a terrible tragedy befell him: a baby running under the yard with other children collapsed and fell on a huge coil of barbed wire.
The injured boy was rushed from Plungė to the Vilnius Red Cross Hospital, where it was found that his right eye had been punctured.
“You can probably imagine what the medical team was like at the time and what the operations might have been like. She was still trying to save the eye, but nothing could be done, it was completely damaged. After 20 years, he took it from me, ”says the man. As if this disaster were small, then another eye was affected – a corneal disease developed.
Operation – for one of the first
After the injury, Justin saw little; as he says, he saw everything as through a fog, only distinguishing light from darkness well. However, the active guy did not intend to accept such a situation: at the age of 20, he wrote a letter to Odessa, to the then famous eye disease clinic founded by academician V. Filatov. Unfortunately, he was unlucky at the time: he stayed in the clinic for 3 months, but due to the poor condition of his eyes, he did not undergo a corneal transplant.
“In addition, I returned home with severe eye inflammation, because the clinic used drugs that were already banned in Lithuania,” says the interlocutor, who still remembers the name of these drugs well.
Three years later, Justinas entered the Kaunas Medical University Eye Disease Clinic, where Drs Danguolė Baniulienė and Jonė Garmuvienė underwent a corneal transplant, which lasted up to 5 hours.
“It was one of the first corneal transplants in Lithuania, so they asked me if I was scared. I remember I was already lying on the operating table and telling the doctors not to worry, I have nothing to lose anyway” smiles the interlocutor, who did not lack a good sense of humor, neither then nor now.
Saw the trees for the first time
Upon awakening after the operation, Justin immediately realized that he had been successful, because he could see all the shadows “even through the bandages.” Both he and the doctors were glad they hadn’t received any rejection reaction.
“My vision has completely changed, although I only had 5 percent, but I could already see the road, the surroundings,” shares the interlocutor with the memories of almost half a century. – I saw for the first time what beautiful colored trees in autumn – I have never seen such things. Of course, I had to learn a lot, how to walk ”.
At that time, the man also received the first glasses of his life, very strong, with +13 diopters. “I saw it very well,” Justin recalls happily, and readers can only imagine how he was able to see it at the time.
After 10 years, the cornea began to cloud and the image became blurry, so J. Kaspars returned to the Kaunas clinic, where he underwent his second corneal transplant. This operation lasted 45 minutes: the improved methodology and newer technologies made the work of the doctors much easier and faster.
“I still live with this horny and I’m fine. I walk alone through the city, I see the streets and the traffic lights, I don’t even use a stick,” says the man who doesn’t like to moan. He adds a wife to help around the house. Himself he is glad that the housewives (wife, son and two grandchildren) have no vision problems.
No shortage of activities
When asked what activities he had to do in life, the interlocutor simply inspires and begins to name, because since he started working at 17, he still cannot sit idly by.
Although Justinas has had to work in many collectors and similar works for the visually impaired, most of his life has been devoted to music: for 23 years he worked as concertmaster at the Kelmė Art School, then he became artistic director of Kelmė. House of Culture. J. Kaspars works with the communities of the city community, children, people with diabetes, but also helps others. As they say, he plays all instruments: guitar, harmonica, accordion, electric organ, violin, clarinet and others.
“I discovered music when I was three years old. I received my first instrument after an injury while lying in a Vilnius hospital, recalls the musician. – When music was broadcast from the radio, he was “playing” on the end of the bed with his fingers. Seeing this, the doctor brought me a lip harmonica. So I started to play. So my father and I, and he was a great musician, we continued to play together. I played the trumpet, he played with the bandone “.
Turns out there is no shortage of activity even at 20%. working capacity. Justin loved music so much that even when he went to the sanitarium for treatment, it did not stop him from forming a band and preparing a concert program.
Musicians and dancers who have been actively performing with bands and bands prior to the pandemic, recording records, and traveling across the country now meet and speak only on social media.
“We all miss music so much. He asks me when we can play again. I don’t know how it will be, I opened a vaccination point in the hall of the House of Culture, where I organized rest nights, ”says the interlocutor, who will not be able to live without music.
Children also look forward to the cornea.
When asked about organ donation, Mr. Kaspar says: “I know that some people are afraid of going to another world without death or heart after death. In fact, they will not need an eye, a kidney or a liver there, and for the living, these organs are very important to the extent that heart, kidney and other transplants can be performed. I am in favor of organ donation one hundred percent! And if, after my death, which “parts” would fit, I would give them willingly. “
Justin’s case, interviewed by NTB, shows how transplantation can change lives, provide the opportunity to live a full life for many years. A man who has lived with a transplanted cornea for 48 years is an example that an operation that can fundamentally change the quality of life is worth waiting for.
There are currently 452 people on the transplant waiting list. There are 146 children waiting for the cornea, including 2 children.
A Lithuanian resident of any age who has reached the age of majority can express their consent to donate their organs and tissues for transplantation after death by purchasing a donor card. This can be done online at ntb.lt, at all medical institutions, at Eurovaistinė pharmacies.
