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Mark Meyers – Champion of Donation

Mark Meyers – Champion of Donation

As the Decedent Affairs Coordinator for The University of Kansas Health System, Mark Myers manages the day-to-day operation of their office as well as autopsy service for the health system. Mark’s support of organ, eye and tissue donation is instrumental in helping Saving Sight facilitate the gift of sight in the hospital.

“We take our work very seriously. Our goal is to never release a potential donor to the funeral home until we talk with Saving Sight as well as Midwest Transplant Network,” he says.

His team of two works 7 days a week with doctors, nurses, families, clergy, Midwest Transplant Network, Saving Sight, funeral homes and coroners to serve the families of deceased patients.

“Our entire health system is pro-donation and it trickles down to us. Every day the need for the gift of sight grows and we all realize just how valuable the gift of sight is,” says Mark.

Mark and his team work to ensure everything flows smoothly for Saving Sight and Midwest Transplant Network. “I’m very proud to partner with Saving Sight because of the work they do to help so many people – it’s a great cause that changes many lives.”

Not only does Mark support donation through his work, but he takes part in the donor advisory council at the health system. He finds it impactful hearing other’s stories of donation and learning how to be a great advocate. “Sometimes it takes a little extra time to facilitate donation, but if you think about the outcome and how many lives are changed, that time is invaluable. Once you get involved, like with donor advisory council, and you hear about the lives changed and saved out of tragedy it makes all the work we do totally worth it,” he says.

If you work at a health system and have a donor advisory council, Mark says it’s worthwhile to attend. “If you have the meetings, I encourage you to go. You not only learn so much but it can also touch your heart.”

He adds that signing up to join the donor registry is an easy process at registerme.org or at your local DMV. If you join the registry, it’s important to let your family members know your choice so there aren’t any surprises when the time comes.

“My personal preference to be a donor is important to our family and it’s the most unselfish gift you can give,” he says. “My wife and sons know how important it is to me personally. And someday it could be me or my family that needs a transplant.”

Giving Tuesday Now

Giving Tuesday Now

Together We Help. Together We Heal. Together We Stand.

 

Saving Sight has joined #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide.

#GivingTuesdayNow is a new global day of giving and unity that will take place on May 5, 2020 – in addition to the regularly scheduled December 1, 2020 #GivingTuesday – as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. Saving Sight is joining our nonprofit partners in coming together to created a wave of generosity, citizen engagement, action, and support for our communities and nonprofits around the world. 


Help us change lives by saving sight with a gift on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 and share your giving story on social media with #GivingTuesdayNow.

 

Join Us in Supporting Our Heroes!

As part of its mission to change lives by Saving Sight, we work closely with hospitals and healthcare workers to make eye donation a reality for those in need of restored sight. Today, our clinical and hospital partners need our support more than ever as they answer the call to provide care to our communities impacted by COVID-19.

Please consider joining Saving Sight in supporting healthcare workers near and far by purchasing a t-shirt from our Bonfire.com campaign. A portion of the proceeds of your purchase will go to Saving Sight to fund our work in educating hospitals about donation and supporting their donor programs.

 

Available in more color and style options on Bonfire.com

Available in more color and style options on Bonfire.com

Cheryl Shares Her Brother’s Legacy as an Eye Donor

Cheryl Shares Her Brother’s Legacy as an Eye Donor

April is National Donate Life Month, a time to raise awareness about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation and to honor and celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.

I’m Nicole Flood, Communications Coordinator with Saving Sight, a nonprofit eye bank with a mission to change lives by saving sight.

Today, we’re honored to talk with Cheryl to learn more about her connection to organ, eye and tissue donation and her brother’s lasting legacy as an eye donor.

 

(L-R): Cheryl and Scot on a Hawaiian adventure a year after her transplant; Cheryl and Scot’s daughter and a Donate Life event; Scot with is daughter.

Hi Cheryl, thank you for taking the time to talk with me today and share your story with Saving Sight. Your brother Scot recently passed on the gift of sight as an eye donor, but he also was a living kidney donor to you many years ago.

Can you tell me a little bit about Scot – What was he like and what were some of his favorite activities?

Cheryl: Sure, so Scot was my brother and the words that we say to best describe Scot would be he was funny, and quirky, and he was just a true friend to so many people. I do think that his greatest passion in life was being a dad. He loved being active and exploring with his daughter and together they would do so many things. They loved to walk around Kansas City, and they’d hop aboard the Kansas City Streetcar and go explore City Market and various places. In asking my niece about what she remembered most about her dad she said that she really loved going to the Chiefs games and the Royals games and just having so much fun at those events. They celebrated the Kansas City World Series win and did that up big and that was just such a joyous time for Scot.

To say a little more, he did find his place really when he joined the Greater Kansas City Writing Project. There he really fell into writing – both writing his personal experiences, and also working to get other to write and share their personal experiences through writing. He was an instructional coach for Kansas City, Missouri school district and his great passion was teaching young kids to write and to really help them find their voice through writing.

Tell me about your family’s decision for Scot to be a donor and his legacy of helping others through donation.

So our experience is a little different because Scot was my kidney donor back in 1997. I’d had kidney disease that was diagnosed when I was a senior in high school and when I was 33 years old it was time that I needed a kidney. Both of my brothers were tested, both were a match, but Scot was the one who really stepped up to be my donor. For him, it was something that he could do to really help me but also just to show his character and just to do something so positive. Kidney donation was such an important thing in our family and donation in general is just so near and dear to our hearts that we wanted Scot’s legacy to include giving life to others even after he had passed.

Scot really has always helped others by giving of himself. If we needed something, we’d call him and he would be right over to help. And so it’s not surprising that he was signed up to be a donor and just really wants to help others. So this was the best way that he could continue to help even after his passing.

How do you think Scot’s legacy lives on as an eye donor?

I imagine another person being able to see because of Scot. Two people have gone from living in darkness to a window being opened where they can see so many things. We don’t know about our recipients, but I’m hoping if there’s a grandchild to be seen someone is seeing their grandchild for the first time. If there’s a beautiful sunset to be seen, I’m hoping that these people are able to enjoy a beautiful sunset. I think the things we see can shape our lives so much and I think through Scot’s donation maybe a person’s life is being changed, perspectives are being made, and just a better quality of life for someone.

As a donor family, why is donation meaningful to you and how have you found comfort in your support of eye donation and sharing Scot’s story?

It just brings us great joy to know that someone is seeing beauty through Scot’s eyes. Scot often wrote of experiencing freedom and, through the gift of his corneal tissue and the transplant that someone was able to receive, I just imagine someone is really living a more authentic live and truly experiencing freedom. I just think that Scot would most definitely want to do this for another person; if he came back and found out we had not donated anything that we could of his then I think he would be very upset with us.

His daughter is a freshman in high school now and I asked her how she felt about us donating his tissue and corneas and such and she says, “oh I’m just so glad that we did that.” Someone went and spoke to them at their high school and that she had signed something for herself to be an organ donor too. She’s just totally on board with it and I think it just really gives her great comfort that his legacy includes giving to others. 

I know you were interested in writing a letter to Scot’s recipient and you learned his recipients were international. What caused you to want to reach out?

You know we just really wanted our recipient to know about Scot, but I just kind of want to really know how life has changed for our recipients. I think that possibly we could see a little bit of Scot through those eyes or just the experiences someone has seen. Hopefully the recipients are living much fuller lives now. Mostly I just want to hear from another how Scot has changed another’s life.

What would you say to others who are considering donation?

I’m such an advocate for organ donation. Scot had donated to me and then my friend ended up being a sister-like match for me, which it just seems like such a miracle that she was such a good match for me. Since my transplant, another friend of mine was an altruistic donor to a man that she did not know. And then she inspired another person to be an altruistic donor. Organ donation just really is so soul-stirring. Of course, being a kidney recipient myself I do encourage others to consider donation. There’s nothing greater than knowing one being is willing to lessen the burden of another through organ donation. When I hear organ donation stories, I know there is such good in the world. It gives our family great pride and comfort to know that our tragedy of losing Scot lessens the pain of another’s suffering. I mean I really feel like the circle of life provides through organ donation. It just seems like it’s the ultimate act of humanity. To me it reinforces my belief that we truly are placed on this earth to help out each other and to lift each other up and to give another what they need in a pretty great way.

I know that April is your 2nd transplant anniversary month, so that’s pretty special with it being Donation Life Month with Donate Life America as well.

Yes, last year my one year transplant my friend – my donor – and I got together with some people who were very supportive of organ donation and just of the road that we travelled. And I tell you that day I just was filled with gratitude and I felt like everything went right that day because I was so filled with gratitude. I felt like even the traffic parted for me, like I was walking on air. If everyone could just have a day where they think ok I am going to just completely be grateful today I think they would see what a difference a day like that can make because that’s a day that I remember so vividly. It will be different this year because I won’t be able to get together with my donor, but I plan on paying it forward by doing some donations – I don’t know where I’m going to donate to yet – but to do some donations to either St. Luke’s Kidney Transplant Clinic just to give back a little bit this year and find where there’s a need and to give myself.

That’s definitely a wonderful sentiment, and just experiencing a day like that of gratitude I think is something we all could appreciate for sure.

I had a pretty good sense of what it was like to be truly grateful that day because it had been a hard journey to get my second transplant. Of course, in looking back on it when everything at the end went so well you think, ‘oh that wasn’t so bad.’ but to be in the midst of it and to be in that place of uncertainty, it really was hard.

That’s wonderful Cheryl, Is there anything else you would like to mention that we haven’t discussed?

You know, like I said, donation can just truly stir your soul. I definitely would encourage people to find out more about organ donation. Now that I’ve learned about Saving Sight, just to learn more about eye donation. You know, I hadn’t really thought about eye donation up to the point before we lost Scot, but what a great way to help another person. Totally life changing, so my message is please donate.

Well thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us today and for allowing us to honor your brother’s legacy as a donor hero.

Thank you for talking with me.

If you would like to learn more about Saving Sight, or would like to register as a donor, please visit saving-sight.org.

Our Response to COVID-19

As COVID-19 continues to be top of mind for many in the U.S. and worldwide, we’d like to share the measures that Saving Sight is taking to ensure the health and well-being of our patients, families, partners, and staff.

Even in these uncertain times, our commitment to the mission of changing lives by saving sight is first and foremost. Saving Sight will continue to serve others by connecting them to the gifts of donation and transplantation. We are taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our staff and patients who will receive the gift of sight from donors. This includes screening all donors for potential and diagnosed COVID-19 cases.

While our clinical operations continue, Saving Sight and its partners have canceled or postponed all community events, including those associated with National Donate Life Month in April. Although difficult, this decision was made to limit the exposure of our donor families, recipients, our team, and the community-at-large to the risk of coronavirus.

Finally, we’ve taken additional measures to protect our Saving Sight team, including suspending non-essential travel and arranging for our staff to work from home, wherever possible. The safety of our team is a top priority, and we will continue to evaluate our response and make decisions in the best interest of all as the situation evolves.

Event Updates

Candlelight Memorial Ceremony, Springfield, MO – March 28, 2020
This event has been postponed, please stay tuned for more information at a later date.

Board of Directors Meeting – March 28, 2020
Meeting will occur via conference call instead of in-person. Please contact our team at 800-753-2265 if you will be in attendance and need dial-in information.

Mosaic Celebration of Life – April 1, 2020
This event has been postponed, please stay tuned for more information at a later date.

University Hospital Celebration of Heroes – April 1, 2020
This event has been canceled.

Celebration of Life and Rose Dedication Ceremony, Freeman Hospital West – April 14, 2020
This event has been postponed, please stay tuned for more information at a later date.

Missouri Donor Day at the Capitol – April 14, 2020
This event has been canceled.

National Blue and Green Day – April 17, 2020
This virtual event is still on! Please visit Donate Life America’s web site for additional information on participating.

KU Rose Ceremony – April 18, 2020
This event has been canceled.

ARVO Annual Meeting – May 1-7, 2020
This event has been canceled.

ASCRS Annual Meeting – May 15-20, 2020
This event has been canceled.

Kristie Celebrates Her Two-Year Transplant Anniversary

Kristie Celebrates Her Two-Year Transplant Anniversary

This month, Kristie celebrates her two-year corneal transplant anniversary. “It sure is a blessing and awesome to be able to receive a corneal transplant,” she says. “I learned those who give the gift of sight can sure help others!”

After 5 years of having issues seeing clearly out of her left eye, Kristie was able to receive a corneal transplant on March 19, 2018. Kristie’s vision had deteriorated due to corneal disease.

“It just got worse and worse as time went by to where contacts or glasses would not correct it! I was in surgery for 5 hours,” says Kristie, who was 34 and a stay-at-home mom at the time of her transplant. “After surgery, I was told to wear an eye patch for 1 day, but I ended up needing to wear it for a few days as my eye was sensitive to light. My eye was sore for a few weeks and slightly watery and bloody looking. I could not bend down or lift anything more than 25 pounds for 6 weeks and I had to use 2 eye drops after surgery for a month – an antibiotic drop and a sterile drop.”

Dr. Shachar Tauber was Kristie’s corneal surgeon. “He is a great doctor,” she says. “I would suggest him to anyone who lives in that area. He was very informative to my husband during surgery and after and he even checked on me after surgery and told me to let him know anytime I needed anything. I will go back to him again if I have any more eye problems in the future.”

Kristie adds she also had checkups with her eye doctor, Dr. Hood, every 2 weeks for a month then every month for 11 months to have stitches removed. “I had 16 stitches and they took them out 2 or 3 stitches at a time. I recovered nicely with no complications! Each time I have doctor’s appointment my sight gets better and better!” She’ll continue to have follow-up appointments at least once a year. “There is also a little pin hole black dot on my left iris that will be there for the rest of my life, so it helps my eye drain,” she says.

“It’s awesome and I’m thankful,” says Kristie. “I can actually see better than my right eye now which is interesting because my right eye used to be my ‘helping me see eye’.

“Before my transplant, I could not see anything, and everything was foggy in that eye. I couldn’t even see words on the TV.  I can now see in a hard contact. I have to wear a contact because I have astigmatism in both eyes. Before I could not wear a contact and see through it.” Kristie adds that she was born hard of hearing and the corneal transplant has helped her so much to see better and navigate her day-to-day life. She and her husband are even going to the gym and exercising together now.

Connecting Through Correspondence

Prior to Kristie’s transplant, she didn’t have a connection to organ, eye and tissue donation. Through the process she says she’s learned a lot. “It sure makes a difference to someone’s life. Without a transplant, some can’t see or live better lives. Some could even die.” Kristie chose to write a thank you letter to her donor family as well. “I just wanted to say thank you for their loved one’s precious gift.”

Because of her experience Kristie has signed up to be a donor on her driver’s license to help others. You can join the donor registry at registerme.org or at your local DMV.

Saving Sight Impact Report

Saving Sight Impact Report

Our Impact in 2019

Thanks to the many partners who help us facilitate the gift of eye donation, and to the thousands of individuals who said “yes” to giving that gift, we were able to impact the lives of more than 7 individuals a day last year.

Together, We Change Lives

2019 was a record-breaking year, in which Saving Sight provided the gift of sight to even more individuals through the help of our many partners in donation. We’re proud to share our successes with you and humbled to say thank you for your support. We hope that you enjoy hearing the stories of those we’ve served this past year, and that you’ll take the opportunity to share their stories with others, as well. 

One Couple Shares Their Unique Connection to Eye Donation

One Couple Shares Their Unique Connection to Eye Donation

Julie and Chris have a unique connection to corneal transplantation. Chris as a corneal tissue recipient and Julie as a tissue recovery technician for the Saving Sight eye bank.

“In late July 2016, I had a corneal abrasion on my right eye that sealed to form an ulcer covering my entire cornea,” says Chris. “My ophthalmologist put me on a regiment of fortified Vancomycin and Tobramycin to be taken every hour for two weeks. After two weeks of unrelenting agony and exhaustion, the ulcer had not decreased in size, and it was determined that a transplant had to occur.”

On August 5, Dr. Fraunfelder performed a cornea transplant in Chris’s right eye. “Though there was immediate relief from any pain, it took about two weeks for my eye to be able to be reopened. Since then, I’ve had to have a fitted solid contact lens, and have to take a steroid eye drop every day, but my vision has returned to normal. I’m extremely thankful for the team at University Hospital who helped me through this process and extremely thankful for Dr. Fraunfelder for performing the surgery.”

Chris says his surgery experience was a typical outpatient procedure. “Having the stitches removed a year later was more stressful, and even that was easy,” he says.

“It’s nice not having to wake up every hour on the hour in agony to squirt drugs in my eye. I was essentially bed-ridden during this time, unable to go to work, and underneath quite a bit of stress due to feeling completely shut out,” says Chris.

Julie and Chris on their wedding day.

Chris and his wife Julie are both advocates for organ, eye and tissue donation. “Without this surgery, I’m not sure how my quality of life would be,” says Chris. “As a freshman, I worked with an on-campus organ donation group called Donate Life, raising money and awareness for organ donation. Though I’ve always been an organ donor, this put into perspective exactly how important it is that people are in favor of donating.”

“While working as a recovery technician, I’ve discovered a large part of the public are anti-donation or just not registered donors due to common misconceptions, while many people wait for the opportunity to receive a donation that will drastically change their lives,” adds Julie. “I have always been very pro-donation, but had no personal association before Chris’s transplant.”

Julie has been a recovery technician with Saving Sight since this summer. She applied because she enjoyed the uniqueness of the job and wanted to use her medical experience to make a positive impact in her society/community.

“Each case is so unique; it keeps me growing as an individual and professional continually,” she says. “Being able to make such a difference in people’s lives is fulfilling, but the community that is Saving Sight was so unexpected and has meant so much. I love getting to spend time with my coworkers.”

Chris and Julie are thankful to the many individuals who have chosen to give the gift of sight. “It is very respectful of the donor and their loved ones and can not only save a life but comfort the donor’s loved ones.”

Chris and Julie with their #GivingTuesday #UnSelfie sign.

Support Saving Sight through Online Shopping

Support Saving Sight through Online Shopping

Thanks to AmazonSmile, you can support Saving Sight’s mission to change lives by saving sight when you shop online this holiday season and all year long. Simply shop at smile.amazon.com and pick Saving Sight as the charitable organization you want your purchases to support.

AmazonSmile features the same products, prices and Amazon Prime member benefits as Amazon.com with one awesome difference: Amazon donates 0.5% of all eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the nonprofit of your choice through the Amazon Smile Foundation. With AmazonSmile you can get the products you need and support Saving Sight’s charitable programs at no additional cost to you.

Follow these 4 simple steps to get involved with Saving Sight’s mission and support our important work through your online shopping.

  1. Visit smile.amazon.com.
  2. Login with your existing Amazon customer account or create a new account.
  3. Search “Saving Sight” in the “pick your own charitable organization” field and select “Saving Sight”.
  4. Shop and watch contributions to Saving Sight from your purchases grow.

If you have already completed these steps to set up your AmazonSmile account and designate Saving Sight as your charity of choice, thanks for your support! You will not need to set up your account again. Simply log-in and shop Amazon at smile.amazon.com to direct Amazon Smile Foundation contributions to Saving Sight.

Visit AmazonSmile here to learn more about the AmazonSmile Program.

Top Takeaways from AAO 2019

Top Takeaways from AAO 2019

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting was held in San Francisco this October. This meeting is the world’s largest association of eye physicians and surgeons, bringing together leaders from around the world.

Our Saving Sight Team attends each year to learn about new trends in eye banking and ophthalmology, and to let our partners know innovations we are exploring. Attending also allows us to be a resource to our partners in sharing information to those who couldn’t attend or might have missed part of the meeting. This experience allows us to learn together side-by-side and be a stronger support to our partner surgeons in their work.

In case you missed AAO, or if you want a refresh, here are our top takeaways from the conference and presentations:

  1. Congratulations to Dr. Shahzad Mian on being awarded the R. Townley Paton Award at AAO 2019! This award is the Eye Bank Association of America’s highest honor for corneal physicians and is presented annually to an ophthalmologist in recognition of his/her outstanding contribution to eye banking and EBAA. Dr. Mian presented his R. Townley Paton Lecture entitled, Defining Competency for Cornea Surgeons: Fellowship and Beyond. During the lecture, Dr. Mian highlighted the goals of cornea fellowship in training physicians to provide the best care to patients. As the field of corneal transplantation continues to evolve, so too must training models and continuing education. His passion for education is clear, and our Saving Sight team was privileged to host Dr. Mian in St. Louis at our last DMEK wet lab in 2018. Saving Sight thanks Dr. Mian for his contributions to our DMEK wet lab and to the eye banking industry as a whole.
  2. During AAO, there was continued talk about the use of antifungals in Optisol. The EBAA reported a primary graft failure even with the use of antifungals. Some eye banks are increasing the concentration in hopes of improving efficacy. Many physicians are concerned about the possible toxic exposure to the tissue. This remains a controversial topic and few eye banks are adopting the use of antifungals.
  3. During the Cornea and Eye Banking Forum, an interesting lecture on the Comparison between Preloaded and Non-Preloaded Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty was presented. This was pertinent for our partners who are considering DMEK and preloaded DMEK. The conclusion outlined that preloaded DMEK “showed good efficacy with similar visual outcomes, reduced graft detachment and a significantly lower rebubbling rate, compared with non-preloaded DMEK.” In addition, the study showed preloaded DMEK surgery time was significantly shorter than non-preloaded DMEK, improving efficiencies in the operating room. Another presentation of interest during the Cornea and Eye Banking Forum was DSAEK Failure in Eyes with Pre-Existing Glaucoma. The study looked at risk factors for DSAEK failure in glaucomatous eyes. The conclusion suggests glaucoma is strongly associated with a greater risk of Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) failure.
  4. Several interesting articles were presented during Cornea Subspecialty Day, as well. Chief among them was EK Alphabet Soup: Which Flavor to Choose. This article by Dr. Marjan Farid provided a great summary on endothelial keratoplasty procedure choices, including DSAEK, DMEK, PDEK, and DWEK/DSO. The conclusion showed that EK is the standard-of-care for endothelial disease. In addition, DMEK provides better visual recovery; DSAEK is of value in complex eyes; and DWEK shows promise in central Fuchs-related cases. Cornea Subspecialty Day also had an interesting talk by Dr. Audrey Talley Rostov on an Update on Medical and Surgical Management of Dry Eye Disease. Dry eye disease affects more than 16 million people. One topic touched upon under pharmacologic management of dry eye is the use of serum tears. As co-founder and processor of Vital Tears autologous serum eye drops, this talk was very informative for Saving Sight to listen to. It allows us to see how Vital Tears and other techniques can be an asset to our physician partners.
Casey’s Story – Twenty-One-Year-Old College Student Regains Sight

Casey’s Story – Twenty-One-Year-Old College Student Regains Sight

“Since I had my cornea transplant my experience has been filled with joy because, for the first time, I do not feel like there’s anything that can hold me back. I feel like I can literally do anything without worrying about my sight,” says Casey. Casey is currently a dual major student and is studying Criminal Justice and Psychology with credentials in International Conflict and Child/Adolescence Development. When Casey was fifteen years old he developed a cataract on his left eye. Without cataract surgery, doctors said he would go blind in that eye. “However doctors did not know whether the surgery would restore my sight,” said Casey. “I had the surgery and waited a few months to see if my sight would be restored.

The surgery was successful in removing the cataract and it didn’t leave me blind, but it made my vision worse. However I never told anyone because I didn’t want to feel like a burden.” A few years later, Casey told his family and eye doctors that his vision had worsened in his left eye. His doctors told him that a cornea transplant was needed to restore his vision. Casey, now twenty-one years old, says his experience with his cornea surgery was a little frightening. “My doctors had given me so much hope, however I was fearful the surgery would not be successful – I was scared to believe.”

Casey’s cornea transplant was a success and his vision is continuing to improve during his healing process. “One of my favorite things to do is play video games and before my transplant I had to literally sit right in front of the television in order to see the game more clearly, but now I do not have to be so close,” says Casey. He can now see things further away as well. He is able to see road signs more clearly and looks forward to his doctors clearing him to drive. Prior to his transplant, he also had to have large font and use a magnifying glass on his phone. Now he enjoys putting his phone in standard mode to view his text messages. “I have learned a lot during this long process. I learned that there are hundreds of people like me out there who need a second chance at living. I know as a recipient I have the power to spread my message to people.

Organizations like Saving Sight are helping to restore sight to those like me who need it.” He adds that when it comes to donating, it’s about saving a life; it’s about restoring someone’s way of living and giving them hope for a better future. Casey chose to write a letter thanking his donor family as well. “After my cornea transplant I was approached about writing a letter to my donor family and I just loved the idea. Because of their family’s sacrifice, I am now able to see clearly and I just wanted to tell them thank you for what they have done for me.” I’m just grateful to my doctors who were amazing and who gave me hope and inspired me and to the donor family who during their tragedy and loss chose to donate. And I’m also very thankful to my family who are awesome people, drove me when I couldn’t drive, and took off work to come to my appointments.”

Casey has designated his decision to join the donor registry at his local DMV. “I love to help people and so on my license I chose to be a donor because I believe if someone is out there who needs it then why not donate?” You can join Casey by registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at your local DMV or at registerme.org.

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