Chennai: The 16-month-old Pakistani visually impaired baby boy, who got vision in one of his eyes through a cornea transplant recently, is flying back to Lahore from Delhi on Jan 8, along with his parents.

Thanks to a woman donor from Chennai, the toddler, Mohammed Talha Shahzad, born blind, is now able to recognise his parents, play with toys and move around, of course with thick glasses.

The boy would have to come back to the city six months later to see the progress, and if necessary for a surgery in the second eye. He would be under medication to prevent any rejection.

Presenting the child and his young parents before the media in Chennai this evening (Jan 6, 2004), the Chairman of the Agarwal Eye Hospital, Dr J Agarwal and his son and Director, Dr Amar Agarwal, both well-known ophthalmic surgeons, said the surgery was done free of cost on the child.

"The child got vision in one eye because of the eye donation by a 61-year-old woman" whose eyes were donated immediately after her death in the last week of December.

The child, son of an automobile mechanic, is now sporting a thick spectacle and "as he grows up, the power of the glass will be brought down", Amar explained.

Pointing out that the child was born blind because of genetic disorder, both the surgeons advised people against marrying close relatives.