COAS visits war heroes at Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Raheef Sharif visited the Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology (AFIO) on Wednesday and met wounded warriors of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

According to a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) branch of the Pakistan Army, the COAS interacted with the war heroes, paid richest of tributes to them on their sacrifice and valour and said “We never give up and never quit”.

Till date a total 179 soldiers have lost complete or partial eye sight due to IED blasts, the statement adds. At present 56 valiant sons of the soil are undergoing treatment at the Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, 30 of them have lost sight in both eyes.

During his visit to AFIO, COAS was given a detailed briefing regarding the state of the art Visual Rehabilitation Center for visually disabled soldiers which includes a computer lab, braille, vocational and recreational facilities.

The Army Chief was briefed that all efforts are being made to retrieve eye sight of few injured soldiers who are in curable zone. General Raheel Sharif instructed all concerned to leave no stone unturned to provide best the medical treatment to the national heroes who have sacrificed their eyesight to help realize Quaid’s vision of Pakistan.

COAS appreciated the standard of treatment and medical care being extended by a dedicated team of doctors and paramedical staff at (AFIO).

Earlier on arrival, COAS was received by Adjutant General Lieutenant General Anwar Ali Hyder, and Lieutenant General Syed Muhammad Imran Majeed, Surgeon General Pakistan army.