By Zoe Engels, Contributing Writer and Editor
This Eye Donation month, celebrated annually every November, we’re striving to help bring awareness to the life-saving impact of eye donation and transplantation. We know that this month and every month, organ, eye, and tissue donation gives us many things to celebrate, and we’re always ready to acknowledge and appreciate the power of donation.
Speaking of eye donation, have you heard that it’s possible to receive a cornea transplant? Deceased donors’ corneas—which is the outside part of the eye that would be covered by a contact lens—are used to help restore sight for those suffering from corneal blindness. According to the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), its member eye banks have performed more than 2.3 million cornea transplants since 1961, and cornea transplants have a remarkable success rate of 95 to 98 percent.
To learn more about cornea transplants, check out our Q&A with EBAA’s President and CEO Kevin Corcoran.
One person who experienced the remarkable impact of eye donation is double cornea transplant recipient Mary Scheibel, who generously shared her story with SODA: Student Organ Donation Advocates.
In late 2016, Scheibel scheduled a visit to the optometrist with what she believed was cataracts, a clouding of the lens in the eye that can cause vision loss. Fairly common, cataracts can be treated with surgery that removes the cloudy lens and puts an artificial lens in its place.
However, what Scheibel learned instead would come as a shock: She had Fuchs’ Dystrophy, a genetic eye disease that causes the cells that line the inner surface of the cornea (and are meant to maintain proper fluid levels in the cornea) to begin to die off. Eventually, without these cells, fluid builds up in the cornea, and that swelling causes significantly blurred or clouded vision.
Scheibel had known very little about eye donation prior to learning her diagnosis, so she immediately began her research into cornea transplants.
At first, she admitted, Scheibel was resistant to having the surgery, but the sight in her right eye continued to deteriorate rapidly over a six-month period, making the need for a transplant more pressing.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a [transplant] recipient,” she told SODA via email. “The organ donor conversation was an uncomfortable one for me. I knew that someone would have to die for me to have sight. The magnitude of this gift is enormous. Without this donation, I would lose the ability to see. I cried a lot. I prayed for my donor and [their] family months before they passed. I was much more concerned about this than the surgery itself.”
Once she decided to move forward with the surgery, it was off to the races. In a matter of a few months, Scheibel received her first transplant in her right eye.
Why was the process such a rapid one? Well, the cornea is avascular, meaning no blood vessels run through it. So, there’s no need for matching blood types, and there is a lower risk of rejection than with other organ transplants.
Because of this unique attribute and the readily available eye bank supply of corneas thanks to willing donors, there is no waitlist in the U.S. for cornea transplants.
Scheibel’s second cornea transplant (for her left eye) took place a little more than a year later after her right eye had adjusted to the transplant and her vision had improved.
Overall, she found that the first recovery process was more difficult than the second, especially as she didn’t know what to expect the first go-round.
“I was scared by my lack of sight and very emotional about having an eye donor,” she said. “It was both a physical and an emotional recovery. The first 48 hours were taxing, but not painful. My sight came back quickly—within a few days, for the most part.”
While she had difficulty with the anti-rejection drops following her right transplant, she and her care team, spearheaded by Dr. Marc Hirsch, were able to determine what Scheibel’s body would accept prior to the second transplant.
Scheibel has learned about her donors, both of whom died unexpectedly. She said she thinks about this fact often and is so thankful to her donors for the amazing gift of sight.
Her first donor was a 25-year-old male who’d been tragically killed in an accident. Her second was a 60-year-old man who died suddenly of a heart attack. Because of the Lion’s Eye Bank of Wisconsin, Scheibel was able to reach out to her first donor’s family to thank them for the tremendous gift.
“Until you are threatened with the loss of your vision, you most likely take sight for granted—I know I did,” she told SODA. “But now that I have two transplants, … I do not take sight for granted. Thanks to two different people who didn’t even know me, I can see. I often reflect on this—when I stand on the shores of the ocean, see a beautiful sunrise, watch my grandchildren play, I know this is possible because of the generous gift of my donors.”
Mary and her family
On her advice for student organ, eye, and tissue donation advocates, she encourages people to make sure donors and their families know that they are immensely valued, particularly because a person never knows if they might one day require a transplant.
“You never know if one day you will be a transplant recipient—if you will be that person who needs an organ to live or to see,” she said. “It’s personal. Very, very personal.”
Scheibel also encourages student advocates to tell stories and spread the word about donors and the recipients of these life-changing gifts.
“Students are young, passionate, ready to make a mark on the world, [and] this is a mark you can make,” she said of advocacy. “You can be a difference maker, even at a young age. And you can encourage your friends, family members and colleagues to do the same. This could be your opportunity to save a life, to make a difference to a mom, dad, or even a grandmother like me.”
She added, “It’s a privilege to be able to share my story. It’s a story with a happy ending—thanks to my donors’ gifts of sight.
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