For over 30 years, Barbara has made a difference in the lives of her students, first as an elementary public school teacher and later at the university level where she trained elementary, early childhood and special education educators to teach children at the most important times of development. At the heart of all she does is a passion for learning and education. Barbara is also an avid Mah Jongg player, enjoys making jewelry and loves to read. Now retired, Barbara continues to change lives by teaching university courses online and through her volunteerism with the American Red Cross.

Fuchs’ dystrophy threatened Barbara’s ability to continue changing lives, but thanks to the generous gift of a donor, she’s still active serving communities through the Red Cross. With a team of other retired educators as part of the Pillowcase Project, Barbara visits schools in Missouri to talk with thousands of 3rd-5th graders each year about emergency preparedness and basic coping skills in disasters, such as house fires, earthquakes and tornados. Barbara is also a member of a Red Cross disaster action team (DAT) that responds to house fires to help families cope and secure basic necessities.

“It’s kind of miraculous! As my eyes were deteriorating it became harder to see and reading was becoming blurry, so it made a big difference in what I am able to do,” said Barbara. “It’s remarkable that someone cared enough to donate those two corneas to someone like me.”

“Thank you – those two words don’t say it enough,” said Barbara.

When Barbara was in her early 40s, her ophthalmologist identified that she had Fuchs’ dystrophy. Her doctors monitored the deterioration until it progressed to the point she needed a transplant. Barbara had an endothelia keratoplasty on her left eye in March 2015 and on her right eye in August 2015. An endothelial transplant replaces the deeper layers of the cornea and does not require stitches. Her transplants were both successful and Barbara is recovering well.

Barbara was familiar with the degenerating and hereditary eye disease as both her father and paternal aunt had it as well. “I’ve always had the universal donor designation on my license because I’ve felt an ethical connection to donation. I just feel that it’s important, partly because my dad had two cornea transplants as well,” said Barbara. Barbara is also a blood and platelet donor.

“I encourage people to really be mindful of that process and organ donation. I think people can really make a difference to the life of someone else,” said Barbara.

Through her experience Barbara hopes that people learn more about the transplant process. She said she wants people to know it’s available and that Saving Sight is an organization that makes corneal transplants possible by facilitating the donation process.

Barbara chose to write to her donor families through Saving Sight’s correspondence program. “I felt like I needed to make a connection with the family and let them know that I received the cornea, that it’s going well and to let them know how thankful I am,” said Barbara.

“I just think it’s enhanced the quality of my life,” said Barbara. “You don’t really realize how important sight is until it’s gone – it’s a miracle they can make it better.”

When Alla was in school, she loved to play softball. Growing up in a small Kansas town in the 1920s, there wasn’t a girls’ team for her to play on. Short on players, Alla found herself playing catcher for the boys’ team. “The grandkids get a kick that grandma played on the boys’ team,” said Alla. Today, she enjoys spending time with her family, which includes four children and a slew of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Alla also enjoys her charcoal drawings, swimming and taking lots of walks with Skippy, her Miniature Schnauzer. “He’s so cute and looks out for me,” said Alla.

When Alla went in to the eye doctor to get new glasses, she was told glasses alone wouldn’t make her vision better. Her doctor recommended surgery to remove scar tissue from her right eye. Nearly 40 years ago, a tree limb came in the window of a moving car, hitting Alla in the face and eye. “It hurt but I didn’t think too much about it at the time. We’re assuming that’s what caused the scar tissue and, as I got older, it started to get worse,” she said.

Alla had the surgery, but removing the scar tissue wasn’t enough to save her vision. In May 2016 she received the gift of sight from a generous eye donor by way of a penetrating keratoplasty corneal transplant. “My other surgery didn’t heal and there was a place in my eye that was evidently very thin. With it not healing, if it had gotten a hole in it I would’ve been blind, so it was just better to take care of it before it happened,” Alla said.

Only a few months out from her cornea transplant, Alla is in the healing process and is waiting to see the full results of the transplant. She is looking forward to being able to drive again when that time comes and being able to drive herself to swim again. “I can tell that the eye is gradually getting better,” said Alla. “I can see out of it okay but it’s still fuzzy.”

Before her transplant, Alla didn’t know much about the eye donation and transplantation process. “I was just absolutely amazed,” said Alla. “It’s just fantastic and everyone has been so helpful and so kind about everything. I knew people donated their eyes and I didn’t know how it worked.” Saving Sight worked with Alla’s surgeon to provide the corneal tissue for her transplant. “I just think it’s wonderful that people donate and I hope I can donate when I leave this world,” said Alla, a registered organ donor who proudly carries the designation on her driver’s license.

For those who are nervous to have a corneal transplant to save their sight Alla said, “I’d tell them not to be scared to have it done. I wouldn’t be able to see without it.”

You can join Alla, her eye donor and countless others who have made the selfless decision to save the sight of others by registering to be an eye, organ and tissue donor. Join the registry today at registerme.org and share your decision to be a donor with your loved ones.