Yousef recovers from ordeal of almost losing sight in left eye

Yousef ben Lafi is slowing regaining his sight after being blinded in one eye by a hand sanitizer dispenser while at the hospital with his mother.

Yousef ben Lafi, 7, at his home in Ajman. After the accident, doctors initially said he would need a stem-cell transplant to repair the damage. But his stem cells started to regrow, and his vision is returning. Pawan Singh / The NationalShow less

AJMAN // Seven-year-old Yousef ben Lafi has one simple wish for next year – to be able to watch his favourite Spider-Man cartoons every day.

The youngster is slowly regaining his sight after being blinded in one eye while using a hand-sanitiser dispenser.

Doctors feared he would never see again after the gel squirted into his left eye, causing a chemical burn, at the GMC Hospital in Ajman on June 17.

Thankfully, the stem cells in his eye have regenerated and he started to regain his sight a month later.

Now, when Yousef is not keeping track of his favourite superhero on his iPad, he is running around and playing football with his friends.

“I like Spider-Man because he flies in the air and helps people,” said Yousef, whose family is from Tunisia.

“I am better now. I can read books, I can see the board in school. I can see Spider-Man on my iPad. I can play with my friends outside – we race and play hide and seek.

“Sometimes I use medicines at night to help my eye not go dry. But it’s better than before because then I couldn’t see Spider-Man, I couldn’t read or play with anyone – my eye hurt so much then. I still remember that time.”

Yousef was at the hospital with his mother to treat a cough when the accident happened. GMC Hospital has maintained it is not guilty of negligence but later removed all hand-sanitiser pumps from the corridors.

Doctors initially said he needed a stem-cell transplant to repair his eye. A hospital ophthalmology report stated Yousef had “lost all his limbal stem cells” and had “total loss of corneal epithelium of the left eye”.

In follow-up examinations doctors spotted the growth of a few stem cells.

Yousef first complained of blurred vision but his eyesight has grown stronger. Still, doctors say he will require frequent examinations to rule out regression of vision.

Yousef has calmly accepted glasses prescribed by doctors for myopia. He shows no trace of bitterness about the traumatic period when he cried from pain and had nightmares. Over the next year, he plans to study hard and he wants to be a pilot when he grows up.

Another new year wish involves his dream car.

“I would like a Ferrari,” he said solemnly as his mother burst out laughing.

“My new year wish is that we live in a villa in Abu Dhabi near Ferrari World and when I grow up I want to buy a Ferrari.”