Seeing Things Differently

Even though TODF is a bit "green," we are comprised of people who have been involved with the advocacy of organ and tissue donation for a number of years, such as transplant recipients, donor family members, and living donors. People personally touched by the life-changing miracle of organ and tissue donation. One of our objectives is sharing that tissue donation is just as important as organ donation, because it positively impacts lives, too. We shared one such example in a blog post last week. We share another one today with Robert Gusinsky's story.

Human eye about 1 week after a Cornea transplant. The multiple light reflections indicate folds in the cornea, which later resolved. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At 14 years of age, Robert was diagnosed with a condition known as keratoconu. It causes a degeneration of the cornea to the point it's shape changes into a cone. He maintained his vision for a long time through the wearing of glasses and contacts and was able to fly planes for a number of years. Eventually, though, his eyesight worsened to the point that he had to give up flying. So, he went to law school, got his degree and law license, and became an assistant United States attorney.

By 2002, the eye disease had worsened to the point where he could only wear his contacts a couple of hours at a time. Without them, he was nearly blind in his left eye. He had to stop riding his motorcycle and had difficulty driving. After his corneal transplant surgery in 2003, things improved dramatically. He got his quality of life back and now has 20/30 vision. He thinks about his donor every day, and sometimes wonders if he sometimes sees things differently through the eyes of his donor. Realizing that a high price was paid to restore his sight, Robert wants people, and donor families in particular, to know that, "... good can come from a really tragic situation."

The reason we share Robert's story is because sometimes people are unable to donate their organs when they pass away. In fact, statistics show that only about 2-3% of us are able to be organ donors. Various factors, such as a person's health condition and cause of death, can prevent one from being an organ donor. However, the important thing to know is that nearly everyone can be a tissue donor, and one tissue donor can improve as many as 50 lives !

For more information about organ and tissue donation, or to learn how to register as an organ and tissue donor, please visit our website, www.SaveLivesTN.org, by clicking here.

Read more - RapidCityJournal.com article titled "Man's Vision Restored Through Donated Cornea"