For One Man, Seeing Is Believing

As a child, longtime San Fernando Valley ophthalmologist Michael Colvard was intrigued by 1950s hero Tom Dooley, a Navy doctor who saved lives in thatched, makeshift facilities in faraway jungles.

“There was a certain romance in that that caught my imagination,” Colvard said recently. “It was the idea of adventure and traveling. . . . Now it has a whole different meaning to me.”

Since 1989, the Encino-based doctor has traveled each summer to African countries, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, not as a tourist but as a healer restoring sight to the blind.

The 53-year-old Colvard recently returned from a two-week trip to Namibia where he, his 17-year-old daughter, Caitlin, and a team of five doctors from Africa, Switzerland and the United States restored vision to 150 African villagers.

Most of them had been blinded by cataracts without access to eye care.

“They couldn’t even see the food on their plate,” Colvard said.

The volunteer team helped children born with glaucoma and cataracts, as well as the elderly. Because of time constraints, doctors restored only one eye per patient.

“Two eyes are better than one,” said Colvard, “but one is better than none. We had to take care of as many people as we could.”

Colvard and the doctors began their day at 8, operating on as many villagers as they could--sometimes working 12 hours straight.

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Each surgery to remove cataracts--which entails removing clouded lenses and replacing them with a clear implant lens--took about 30 minutes.

The same procedures at home, according to Colvard, cost patients about $2,500. Services for the villagers were free.

“I could go to any country in Africa,” said Colvard, “and stay as busy as I can be. . . . It’s difficult for these people to just have [the basics], like clean water and plumbing.”

Colvard cannot say exactly what motivated him to make his childhood fantasy a reality.

“At some point,” he said, “I realized that this is my life . . . this isn’t the warmup anymore.”

He is changing the lives of many people at home too.

“I feel lucky to have him as a doctor,” said patient Arthur Levin, 82, of Hollywood, whose vision was restored by Colvard.

Levin has referred his bride of four months, 77-year-old Margie Levin, for a consultation with Colvard.

The walls of Colvard’s busy office--where he sees as many as two dozen patients a day--are decorated with photographs of his travels, including memorable scenes of elephants grazing on the veldt, monkeys on the hoods of jeeps and the smiling faces of villagers whose sight has been restored.

“To see a grandparent look in the face of a grandchild for the first time and touch their lips or face is priceless,” he said.

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions on prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley.news@latimes.com.