Girl, 11, who wrote songs to pay for eye surgery to see again

SINGAPORE - She was crying for almost an hour.

Afraid of going for her eye operation, Adelyn Koh, 11, had to be reassured by her mother, Ms Mary Lim, 39, that it would be alright.

Adelyn, the musical talent who teamed up with Singapore Idol 3 winner Sezairi Sezali for a Mandarin duet for the President's Star Charity in October last year, underwent a complex surgery on her right eye on Wednesday.

In September, The New Paper reported that the girl had composed songs to raise funds for her eye operation, which was expected to cost about $40,000 per eye.

She had composed four songs and put them into a CD for sale.

Adelyn was born with opaque corneas, or Peter's Anomaly, a rare congenital eye disease. She had gone through four unsuccessful corneal transplants before she turned one.

These corneal transplants were natural, but Adelyn's body had rejected them.

Before her latest operation, Adelyn could make out only lights and shadows.

Last year, Ms Lim discovered a procedure called Boston Keratoprosthesis (Boston Kpro).

According to Associate Professor Leonard Ang, 42, the Boston Kpro is an operation which replaces a diseased cornea with a clear, artificial cornea.

Prof Ang, who is the medical director and senior consultant at The Eye & Cornea Transplant Centre, operated on Adelyn.

The surgery took place at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital at 3.30pm. Only Adelyn's right eye was operated upon.

If all goes well, Adelyn will go for an operation on her left.

"The complex eye surgery was successfully completed in 21/2 hours.

"The aim of the operation was to give Adelyn some vision so that she can be more independent in her daily activities and lead a more normal life," said Prof Ang.

Prof Ang also said that the Boston Kpro operation is particularly useful for restoring vision in patients with severe blinding corneal diseases or those with previous failed corneal transplants.

Adelyn, who returned home from hospital yesterday at 1.30pm, will have her first follow-up session today.

The New Paper visited Adelyn and her mother at their home in Punggol on Thursday.

Although she had gone through a major operation under general anaesthesia just 24 hours earlier, Adelyn was very lively.

"Before I went for the op, I was very afraid as I did not know what was going to happen.

"I spent about 40 minutes crying and I was comforted by my mother and nurses," shared Adelyn.

Fear 

She said she was fearful of being put under because she did not know exactly what it was, so she asked many people about it before her operation.

"I was scared of the feeling that you would get once they gave you the chemicals to make you fall asleep. It was strange," she said.

Ms Lim said that whether Adelyn can have full eyesight remains to be seen.

She said: "I'm not asking for much, I just hope that her condition improves. I hope that the operation would make a difference (to Adelyn's eyesight)."

The girl is using an eye patch on her right eye to prevent her from rubbing it. She needs eye drops every few hours.

Adelyn, who composes classical tunes, has nearly completed her fifth song and is working on her sixth.

The family is selling Adelyn's music CD at $10.

All proceeds go to Adelyn's medical treatment.

Those interested in Adelyn's story can visit adelynxinhui.blogspot.sg.

You can e-mail Ms Lim for CD orders at mary1668@yahoo.com.

Blind girl, 11, produces own CD to raise $80k for treatment

SINGAPORE - Despite her tender age and being almost totally blind, 11-year-old Adelyn Koh has composed four songs and produced her own album - all in hope that the CD sales will raise the $80,000 she needs for her medical expenses.

Adelyn was born with a rare congenital eye disease called Peter's Anomaly, which means that she had "opaque" corneas. According to The Straits Times, there are only one to two such cases in Singapore a year.

To save her eyes, she underwent four operations even before the age of one - four operations on her right eye, and one on her left.

Unfortunately, all four operations were failures, and she can now only make out colours, light and shadows, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported.

Her trials didn't end there, as her father left home two years ago, never to return.

Her mother Mary Koh, 39, a housewife of 10 years, was forced to find work as a tuition teacher to take care of her three young daughters.

Hope to see again

Adelyn has never given up hope that she'll one day be able to see again.

"She has this very high desire - she wants to see what's going on," her mother said. At times, Adelyn's frustration at not being able to see has caused her to lash out, asking: "Why am I the only one in the family who can't see?"

In a short documentary on her life, she shared how she would like to see, even if it's just for a year, a week, or "just a little while, even if it does go back to normal again".

Last year, Ms Koh learnt of a new type of artificial cornea transplant called "Boston Kpro".

Explaining her wish to send Adelyn for another cornea transplant despite the previous four failures, Ms Koh said: "There is no best gift to be given to her, other than sending her to do the transplant again."

"According to eye specialist, her vision is now equivalent to zero per cent. No one able to guarantee it will be successful, but there will be totally no hope if we do not try at all," she added.

Hoping to let her daughter see again, Ms Koh decided to accept the transplant surgery. However, the surgery, scheduled for early November, would set the family back $80,000 - $40,000 for each eye.

With a pay cheque of just $1,500 for a family of four, it was money they could not afford.

Special talent

Unwilling to add to her mother's burden, Adelyn spent two years composing four original songs.

Ever since she was young, Adelyn loved to play the piano. At first, she fumbled at the keys, but slowly, using her hearing as a guide, she learnt to sing and even compose songs.

Ms Koh told the Chinese daily that when she sent her daughter to learn the piano, her only hope was to cultivate joy in Adelyn's life.

Unexpectedly, the lessons helped Adelyn realise her unusual talent - she can play music from memory.

Adelyn only needs to listen to a song a few times to memorise the tune and play it out on the piano.

"Little dream"

She has since passed the Grade 4 piano examinations and was even invited to the President Star Charity show to play the piano while singing "The Moon Represents My Heart".

Her efforts managed to raise $10 million in donations.

For the accomplished young girl who is a capable horse rider, inline skater, ballet dancer and even a violinist, her disability has never stopped her from achieving her dreams.

Now she is hoping that the same talent and determination can help pave her way to regaining her sight. Her music has been published in a CD, with the aim of using the proceeds to cover her medical expenses.

Her CD, titled "Little Dream", is priced at $20 a copy and has sold 1,000 copies so far through the help of enthusiastic friends and family spreading the word through blogs, Facebook and emails.

To raise another $60,000 for medical expenses, she must sell another 4,000 CDs.

Those who wish to purchase the CD can email mary1668@yahoo.com, or go to adelynxinhui.blogspot.com to make an enquiry.