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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Lucy Mathen<br />
| image = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] --><br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1953}}<br />
| birth_place = India<br />
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) --><br />
| death_place = <br />
| nationality = British<br />
| other_names = <br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Ophthalmologist<br />
}}<br />
'''Lucy Mathen''' (born 1953) is an Indian-born British [[Ophthalmology|ophthalmologist]] and former journalist. Having initially worked for the BBC, she retrained as a doctor and launched Second Sight – a non-profit organisation aimed at curing cataract blindness in India's poorest state, Bihar.<br />
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==Life==<br />
Mathen began her career as a print journalist, working for the ''Surrey Mirror'' in the mid-1970s.<ref name=Times>Barnes, Simon (2003-04-18). [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/simon_barnes/article858685.ece Land where folly and courage run hand in hand]. ''[[The Times]]''. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref> She became the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]]'s first ever female [[British Asian]] to front a major national television programme in 1976 when she began working for ''[[Newsround|John Craven's Newsround]]'' (the BBC's children's news series).<ref name=Guardian>[[Samira Ahmed|Ahmed, Samira]] (2011-09-30) [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/29/newsround-playground-racism-letter?newsfeed=true Newsround, racism and me]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved on 2011-10-01</ref> She was the programme's first dedicated reporter – others, such as the anchorman [[John Craven]], also appeared in other presenting roles for the BBC.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/static/find_out/guides/30_anniversary/1976.stm 30 years of Newsround]. [[CBBC]]. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref> She worked on ''Newsround'' from 1976 to 1980. During this period, [[Samira Ahmed]], now a prominent British Asian broadcaster, found Mathen an inspiration.<ref name=Guardian/><br />
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During the making of a documentary on women in Afghanistan in 1988, a conversation with a local doctor made her reconsider her journalistic role: "I suddenly felt like a bit of a fraud. That's when I vowed that if I were ever in a war zone again, I would be a medic and not a reporter". At the age of 36, she retrained as an ophthalmologist at [[St. George's Hospital Medical School]].<ref>Kallury, Kruttika (2010-10-07). [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/eye-catcher/1/115472.html Eye catcher]. ''[[India Today]]''. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref> After travelling to India in 1996, she saw the effects of [[cataracts]] in the poor rural north of the country and launched a non-profit organisation – Second Sight – in December 2000 to bring eye surgeons into the region.<ref>[http://secondsight.org.uk/New/Pages/Organisation.shtml Organisation]. Second Sight. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref> In 2012 she received the inaugural Karen Woo award from the British Medical Journal for the charity's work in Bihar. In 2018 over 52,000 people had their sight restored by Second Sight working with small community eye hospitals all over the state of Bihar. The total number of blind people who have benefitted from the charity's work is now over 450,000. She has written about her change of career and the first 10 years of the charity's work in a book called ''A Runaway Goat: Curing Blindness in Forgotten India''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vtyq7 Excess Baggage: Medics abroad and Bridges]. [[BBC Radio 4]]. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref>A sequel called ''Outgrowing the Big: Sight for India's Blind and A New Way of Seeing the World'' was published in June 2019. Award-winning journalist Simon Barnes, reviewing OTB called the book a 'triumph' -'humanity is the super-power that has allowed the charity Second Sight to punch way above its weight in 18 years.'<br />
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Mathen and her partner of 46 years, Mark, have one son and one daughter. She enjoys playing football and has incorporated the encouragement of [[Women's association football|women's football]] in India as part of a programme discouraging [[child marriage]].<ref>Carter, Sally (2011-04-01). [http://student.bmj.com/student/view-article.html?id=sbmj.d1657 Lucy Mathen: From journalism to ophthalmology]. ''[[British Medical Journal]]''. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.</ref> She is also a keen [[running|runner]] and completed three [[London Marathon]]s and a half-marathon, and a triathlon raising money for Second Sight in the process.<ref>[http://secondsight.org.uk/New/Pages/Marathons.shtml Marathons]. Second Sight.</ref> She plays bass guitar in the band Startled Saint which she and Mark formed with friends in the 1970s.<br />
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In 2017, she launched the FAME project, which aims to eliminate [[vitamin A deficiency]] and the resulting [[blindness]] in children in economically backward areas of India.<ref name="FAME">{{cite web |title=Lucy Mathen talks about her charity Second Sight |url=https://theophthalmologist.com/business-profession/letting-the-light-in/amp.html |website=theophthalmologist.com |date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401033127/https://theophthalmologist.com/business-profession/letting-the-light-in/amp.html |archive-date=2021-04-01 }}</ref> FAME stands for Food, [[Vitamin A]], [[Measles vaccination]], and Education.<ref name="FAME"/><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[http://secondsight.org.uk/ Second Sight]<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathen, Lucy}}<br />
[[Category:1953 births]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:British television journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women television journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian television journalists]]<br />
[[Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Newsround presenters]]<br />
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]<br />
[[Category:British ophthalmologists]]<br />
[[Category:Women ophthalmologists]]<br />
[[Category:Women radio presenters]]</div>imported>Citation bot