# Sightsavers’ appeal launched with live broadcast of sight-restoring operation

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/10/09/sightsavers-appeal-launched-live-broadcast-sight-restoring-operation/
- Published: 2014-10-09T11:11:04+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Sightsavers has launched its largest fundraising appeal to date and is using live
video to demonstrate the impact it can achieve. Its A Million Miracles campaign 
aims to raise £30 million to provide sight-restoring surgery for one million people
living in developing countries.

The campaign was launched with a live broadcast of a man undergoing a sight-restoring
operation in a hospital in Malawi. The six minute cataract operation will mean that
69-year-old Winesi March will be able to see his baby grandson for the first time
when his bandages are removed today, World Sight Day.

The broadcast was hosted by YouTuber Doug Armstrong on a Google Hangout. He was 
joined by Dr Gerald Msukwa, one of only a few ophthalmologists in Malawi, talked
through the simple procedure.

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Dr Msukwa said:

> “Yesterday Winesi could not farm his land, see his family or walk to the market
> without the constant support of his dedicated wife. Tomorrow he tells me he will
> dance across the river by his home to work. The operation only costs £30 but will
> help him feed his family for years to come.”

 

All donations to the [A Million Miracles](http://http://millionmiracles.org/) appeal
from the UK public will be match funded by the UK government’s UK Aid programme 
for the first three months of the appeal.

Winesi’s bandages will be removed today at 1.30pm BST. The campaign is being promoted
with the hashtag #SeeTheMiracle.

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