Cornea donation - 1262482

GRACE friends,

Repeating a post of mine from a couple years back, not long after my wife Liz passed from lung cancer:

I just wanted to write a few lines regarding the issue of cornea donation. Because of the possibility of the existence of cancer cells just about anywhere in the body, an advanced lung cancer patient's ability to donate organs or other parts of the body is extremely limited. However, it is usually possible to donate one's corneas in order to give someone another chance at sight.

When Liz passed, the hospital staff gave us information about such a donation, and that evening I called to give my consent (the sooner one gives consent, the greater the likelihood that the corneas can be used for transplantation to a recipient). The staff person I spoke to was extremely sensitive to my situation and helped me through the list of necessary medical history questions, which only took a few minutes. He also told me that in 2-3 weeks I would receive a letter informing me what had been done with the donated tissue; most of the time they can be given directly to a recipient although occasionally they are unsuitable for that purpose and if so, it is possible (but not required) to give consent to use the tissue for research purposes.

Yesterday I received that letter, which stated that Liz' corneas had been given to a local man to restore his vision. I cannot tell you how happy it made me to know that Liz' beautiful eyes live on, helping someone to be able to appreciate all the beauty this world has to offer.

The eye bank also has a procedure in which they act as an intermediary so that donor and recipient families can communicate with each other, and I plan to reach out to the recipient to tell him a little about Liz and how grateful I am that she could give him this precious gift.

So I would urge everyone to consider such a donation, not only for the help that it provides to the recipient, but also for the joy it can bring to the donor's loved ones.

JimC