The University of Nebraska Medical Center is hosting “Bike for Sight” Saturday, April 14, at Miller’s Landing on the downtown Omaha riverfront. The charity bike tour aims to raise awareness and funds to support a vision restoring cataract camp in Cap Haitian, Haiti in May.
For every registered rider, UNMC’s International Division of Ophthalmology will perform one free cataract surgery on a patient living needlessly blind in Haiti. The cost to register is $20.
With a non-competitive format, both casual and serious riders of all ages and skill levels can enjoy the Bike for Sight ride. Participants can choose from 5, 10, 20 or 40-mile courses. Those who wish to can also walk the five-mile course.
The event is set to begin at 9 a.m. Participants can pre-register at www.bikeforsight.org or on the day of the event.
Worldwide blindness facts at-a-glance:
- Every five seconds someone in the world goes blind
- An estimated 45 million people are blind
- Four out of five cases of blindness are curable
- The leading cause of blindness is from cataracts
- 90 percent of the world’s blind live in the developing world
- Without action, world blindness is projected to double by the year 2020
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.