Cornea Donation
Since 1960, Saving Sight has coordinated cornea donation and the distribution of corneas for transplant. Today, we operate in Missouri, Kansas, and central Illinois, and we distribute corneas to transplant surgeons in those states, the rest of the U.S., and around the world to help people receive the precious gift of sight.
Help us spread the message about eye, organ, and tissue donation in your community. If you haven’t yet, register your choice to donate online at Donate Life America or your local Department of Motor Vehicles office. And be sure to speak with your family about your decision.
Heartland Lions Eye Banks’ Work in Corneal Transplantation Contributes to Total Lifetime Net Benefit of Nearly $6 Billion
Corneal transplants performed in the United States this year will result in nearly $6 billion in total net benefits over the lifetime of the recipients, according to a six-month study undertaken by the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA). Heartland Lions Eye Banks...
Cornea Transplant Improves Sight and Quality of Life for Mother of Three
Cathy from Bethalto, Illinois didn’t know she was suffering from a serious eye disease until she sought a consultation for Lasik surgery. The surgeon explained that the reason her contacts no longer fit and why she wasn’t a candidate for Lasik was because the shape of...
FiJaBAM Update: Former Employee Bikes the US and Makes Big News for MLERF
FiJaBAM is short for "Fiji and Jasmine Bike Across America." Jasmine, a former employee who worked with donor families in the Donor Services Center, embarked on a cross-country bicycle trip in mid-April with two goals in mind: 1) cycle 4,000 miles from New York City...
Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation Names Tony Bavuso New Executive Director
The Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation’s Board of Directors announced on Saturday its appointment of Tony Bavuso as the organization’s new executive director, effective July 1, 2013. Bavuso brings 15 years of experience in organizational leadership and eye...
St. Louis Cornea Recipient Achieves Excellent Sight after Lifetime of Vision Problems
Betty, a 77-year-old retired businesswoman from St. Louis, suffered from a series of genetic eye problems for the last 40 years. She, her mother, her daughter, and her grandson all experienced early onset of cataracts in their mid- to late-thirties. Betty underwent...
Two-Year-Old Receives Gift of Sight After Cornea Transplants and Complex Eye Surgeries
Glaucoma is an eye disease most commonly associated with the elderly. High intraocular pressure, often occurring with advanced age, causes damage to the optic nerve and slowly limits peripheral vision. But the reality is that glaucoma affects people of all ages. In...
April 19 is National Blue & Green Day
In Missouri and across the U.S., Americans are celebrating April as Donate Life Month. Donate Life America is encouraging people to share the message of donation by wearing DLA’s colors for Blue & Green Day on Friday, April 19. Donate Life Missouri, as a partner...
Eye Bank Partner, Memorial Medical Center, to be Honored for Achievement in Donation
On April 9, 2013, Gift of Hope, the organ procurement organization serving the northern three-fourths of Illinois and northwest Indiana, will present an honorary plaque of recognition to Memorial Medical Center (MMC) in Springfield, IL for their outstanding donor...
The Donor Registry: Making it Meant to Be
Marie met Arnold about three years ago, just a few years after he moved to Maine from Colorado. They met on a blind date, the kind where one thing leads to another and soon they were celebrating what they called their “international marriage,” she being from Canada...
April is National Donate Life Month
Right now, there are 117,729 Americans waiting for life-saving organ transplants, including nearly 2,000 Missourians. Approximately 46,000 Americans will require a cornea transplant this year, and more than 1 million Americans will receive a tissue transplant. During...