Hudson Silva

Who was Hudson Silva?

Deshabandu Dr F. G. Hudson Silva was the founder and president of the International Eye Bank, Tissue Bank, and the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society. He was an honorary Fellow of the College of Ophthalmologists of Sri Lanka.

He was a brilliant student at Nalanda College Colombo. Some of Dr Hudson's notable classmates at Nalanda College were Karunaratne Abeysekera, Stanley Jayasinghe, Dr. Harischandra Wijayatunga, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, Hon. Rupa Karunathilake, Hon. Dr. Dharmasena Attygalle, Dr. Henry Jayasena.

In 1958 as a medical student, he launched his campaign to collect corneas. He received his first set of corneas in 1959, storing them in his home refrigerator at Wijerama Mawatha in Colombo. With the help of his wife Iranganie, Dr. Silva established the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society in 1961. Dr. Hudson pursued his campaign and succeeded in persuading the majority Buddhist population of Sri Lanka that the donation of eyes after death was a meritorious act. As the campaign gathered momentum, thousands signed up to donate their eyes, and the membership of the Eye Donation Society grew rapidly, with branch societies springing up throughout the country.

On May 25 in 1964, Vesak Day, the first set of eyes was sent to Singapore.