Michael Hughes might not give sight to the blind, but he does give eyes to those missing one. An ocularist for the Artificial Eye Clinic in Vienna, Hughes has created custom-fitted and hand-painted prosthetic eyes for 38 years. A parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Vienna, he also serves with Eye Care International, a nonprofit based in Ohio that provides eye care to those in poverty in El Salvador.
“We go twice a year now, two weeks each,” Hughes said. “We see hundreds of kids.”
Eye Care International visits rural communities underserved in ophthalmology care, which includes surgeries, exams and eyeglasses. Hughes said that children and adults lose their eyes for many reasons, but the majority of cases in children result from tumors. After the cancerous eye is surgically removed, Hughes prepares a custom-fitted prosthetic eye for the patient.
“The work sounds kind of weird, but it’s life-saving,” he said.
In El Salvador, Hughes fits a patient’s new eye with the help of ophthalmologist Dr. Marcus Goens. While Goens performs any necessary surgeries to remove a faulty or cancerous eye, Hughes fits and implements the prosthetic eye. He obtains a mold of the empty eye socket, molds and casts the prosthetic and paints it to match the patient’s other eye. During the painting process, he delicately places red thread to mimic natural blood vessels then finishes painting the iris. Hughes then applies a final acrylic coating to smooth the prosthetic. The prosthetic is then inserted in the faulty eye’s place.
Hughes grew up in Clearfield, Pa., and studied fine arts at Pennsylvania State University in State College. He attended graduate school at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he studied prosthetic design and painting prosthetic eyes. He moved to the Washington metro area and opened up the Artificial Eye Clinic in Vienna in 1991. The practice is a family endeavor. Hughes’ son, Neill, is an associate ocularist, and his daughter, Elizabeth, works as a receptionist and scheduler. The family has opened multiple offices in Virginia, including Orange, Roanoke, Richmond, Virginia Beach and Charlottesville. Hughes and his children also released a multilingual booklet for children, “A Singular View for Kids,” which provides educational information and activities for children adjusting to and living with monocular vision.
Hughes discovered Eye Care International in 2010 when volunteer Bill Loar sent an email to more than 150 ocularists, asking if they would join the nonprofit. Hughes was the only one who responded.
Loar described the nonprofit and its mission to Hughes, who had never traveled to Central America. He took a leap of faith and flew to meet Loar with his brother-in-law Tad Mac Donnell. Before they arrived, Hughes didn’t realize the extent of El Salvador’s poverty. “You get out of that airport, and in five minutes, you’ll see poverty,” he said.
Hughes realized that there were few patients for him to treat in the rural communities that Eye Care International visited. “Since my work is so unique, I really needed a bigger gathering pool,” he said. He began working with Goens at Benjamin Bloom Children’s Hospital in San Salvador, the country’s capital. He was nearly overwhelmed with dozens of cases.
Hughes returns to El Salvador to continue his work “for the greater good.” This year, Eye Care International has assisted nearly 1,800 Salvadorians. During his visit there last month, Hughes created eyes for more than 100 children.
Hughes said his work helps children and adults with monocular vision regain confidence. “You can’t imagine your kid going to school without an eye,” Hughes said. “It’s so sad. And these are such great kids.”
