Paradip, Sept. 25: Three bereaved siblings have transformed their hour of sorrow into happiness for four blind people.

Bhagaban Patri, 66, and his wife Debapriya, 60, from the Sanamangala locality of Kendrapara town, died last Thursday when an unidentified lorry crushed them under its wheels near Kaudikola junction on the NH-5 (A).

The couple's eldest son Upendra Patri, 46, who works with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, did not forget his parents' last wish even in the hour of grief and made sure their eyes were donated.

"I was in a state of deep shock. My parents' death had left me thoroughly broken. But in those depressing moments, I remembered that my parents wished to donate their eyes after death. When I told the doctors about this, they appreciated my gesture and made arrangements so that the eyes could be donated," said Upendra.

"My two younger brothers immediately agreed to it. I had to sign a form pledging eye donation as part of legal formalities. We only had to wait an extra half hour to take the bodies back home for the last rites," he said. "My parents will remain alive through their eyes that will bring light to the lives of four people."

Two eyes collected from a single dead person are given to two different visually-impaired people. This way, more people are able to see.

Appreciating the gesture, ophthalmologist Debendra Sutar said: "It is heartening to see that the men kept their parents' last wish by donating their eyes. This will give a new life to someone who cannot see."

"Many people do not think of eye donation at the hour of grief. It is also a sentimental issue. However, in recent years, people are realising the importance of this act," said eye-donation campaigner Nrusingh Nath.