Help people escape a lifetime of blindness by registering as an eye donor during National Eye Donor Month
Maybe it’s a grandmother who can finally see her grandchildren’s faces for the first time. Or a child who can read once again after an accident left him visually impaired.
Thanks to the generosity of eye donors across Illinois and the work of Heartland Lions Eye Banks, seven individuals escape a lifetime of blindness each day through the miracle of corneal transplantation.
In recognition of National Eye Donor Month (NEDM) this March, the Eye Bank extends its thanks to its Partner in Donation, St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, for helping the organization change the lives of those suffering from eye diseases, disorders or injuries in Effingham and around the world. By facilitating the eye, organ and tissue donation process at St. Anthony’s, staff members allow the Eye Bank to connect patients and their surgeons to life-changing corneal tissue.
Said Kelsie, a 14-year-old cornea recipient who underwent a transplant after a parasite stole her vision, “Now my eyesight is almost normal with a contact on, and playing sports is fun like it used to be. I don’t get looked at weird when people are talking to me, and I don’t have pain anymore. Because of my donor, I can finally live my life how I want, without anything bothering me.”
Last year, eye donors from St. Anthony’s gave the gift of sight to 26 transplant recipients. Twenty-six individuals who can see the world with clear vision because of their donors’ ultimate gift and the caring staff of St. Anthony’s who continue to support eye donation each day.
Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, Heartland Lions Eye Banks is a division of the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, a 501c(3) organization with the mission to preserve and restore the sight of people throughout Missouri and around the world. Since its founding, the Eye Bank has helped give the gift of sight to 33,000 people worldwide.
Registering as a donor takes just minutes at www.lifegoeson.com, the state’s first-person consent registry, or can be performed at any Illinois Secretary of State facility when renewing or obtaining a driver’s license. Most important, because of Illinois’ first-person registry, your decision to donate will be legally-binding, meaning your family will not have to make the difficult decision regarding your final wishes.
For more details on National Eye Donor Month and eye donation, please visit Heartland Lions Eye Banks at www.hleb.org.
« back to News Main
|