Google Doodle honours ophthalmologist Govindappa Venkataswamy

Picture courtesy Google Inc

Google Doodle on Monday paid tribute to Dr Govinda Venkataswamy, a visionary Indian ophthalmologist, on his 100th birth anniversary. Born on October 1, 1918, in Vadamalapuram, Tamil Nadu, Venkataswamy dedicated his life to eliminating needless blindness. According to Google blog post, he was known as Dr. V to his colleagues and patients.

He founded the Aravind Eye Hospital, which started as 'an 11-bed facility and has grown into a network of clinics providing life-changing care to citizens of a nation struggling with high rates of blindness.'

Venkataswamy was permanently crippled by rheumatoid arthritis at age 30. However, despite his health issues, he learned how to perform surgery to remove cataracts'the leading cause of blindness.

'Dr. V could perform 100 surgeries in a day. Addressing the problem of blindness in a holistic fashion, he set up eye camps in rural communities, a rehab center for blind people, and a training program for ophthalmic assistants, personally performing over 100,000 successful eye surgeries,' the post added.

In 1973, Venkataswamy was conferred the Padmashree award for his outstanding service to the nation. He died on July 7, 2006 at the age of 87.

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