–due home early May
ELEVEN-year-old Paula Cottam — the Grade Six student of St. Angela’s Primary School who was blind in one eye and battling over the last several weeks to save the other — successfully underwent ophthalmic surgery in Trinidad last Saturday, and is reported to be recovering favourably. This is according to the child’s father, Paul Cottam, who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle by phone from his East Ruimveldt, Georgetown home yesterday.

Excited as he briefed this newspaper, Cottam said the best words he’s heard throughout this most delicate period were: “Daddy, my surgery is over, and I am seeing!”
They were the words of his daughter, Paula, who, like him, was stricken with retinal degeneration, and had lost vision in her right eye as a result of a complicated cataract.
Paula had been blind in the right eye since age seven. She was recommended for vireto-retinal surgery under general anaesthetic by Dr S. Sugrim, an Ophthalmologist of Guyana.
Noting that it was a very technical operation to repair the detached nerves, her father said that for the next several days, Paula would have to strictly observe the physician’s instructions, which are aimed at keeping the implant in place.
Expressing gratitude to all who in any way helped make it possible for his child to have the surgery, Cottam said:
“I would first of all like to give thanks to God for His grace and mercy… for seeing my child through every step of the way towards making this surgery possible.”
He also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Health for their contribution of US$2,000 towards the cost of the surgery; and to the United Women for Special Children which contributed the other US$1,000 needed for the medical procedure.
He extended special thanks to the surgeon who operated on Paula, Dr. Randy Bhola, and his staff at the Community Hospital of Seventh Day Adventists in St. James, Trinidad & Tobago, where the surgery was performed, and where she is still a recovering patient.
The Cottam family would also like to thank Dr. Sugrim, who evaluated Paula’s condition and recommended her for surgery in Trinidad. Thanks to VICAB, to Women Reaching Out, and to all other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), churches, families and individuals who helped meet other related expenses, such as travel cost, accommodation, sustenance, and other things.
Paula, who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment Examination earlier this month, left Guyana for Trinidad on April 18, accompanied by her sister, Annesia. They are due to return to Guyana during the first week of May.
Meanwhile, Paul Cottam has a history of enucleation to the right eye, and aphakia to the left eye, with retinal degeneration among other things. Though not completely blind, Paul Cottam suffers serious visual impairment; but he has been at his daughter’s side every step of the way, as they sought to raise funds and put other systems in place for her to have the surgery.