Donors come forward to help family of Ontario boy who needed eye surgery

The family of Balin Vergunst, whose family went into debt to provide him with sight-saving surgery not covered by Ontario's health-care plan, say they have been amazed at the reaction to the boy's story after it was told by Go Public.

The 13-year-old had beentold he'd have to go blind before OHIP would pay for surgery. He suffered from keratoconus, a deterioration of the cornea, fixable with a procedure called corneal collagen cross-linking which is not covered by OHIP.

An engineer in Brampton, Ont., who wants to remain anonymous, contacted the CBC offering to pay the cost of the surgery. Local businesses in Rockland, where they live, also want to help the family.

Vergunst's mother,Krystal Tanner, said there has been a lotof positive reaction.

She said her phone has been ringing constantly.

"People are commenting how crazy this is ... that the government doesn't cover this. This is ... showing our our health-care system at its finest so to speak," Tanner said.

"People are asking how they can help. It shows you there are still a lot of good people out there and people who care."

"I want to say thank you. It's very generous and very kind. I'm very overwhelmed [by] the outpouring of support and concern and really all we were trying to do was raise awareness for families in the same situation."