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Nursing home volunteers have big hearts. That’s why I like to share a variety of special opportunities to help you make a positive difference in the lives of other people. Today, let’s look at how you can give someone the priceless gift of sight by becoming an eye donor.
Why should I become a donor?
When you donate your eyes upon death, the primary use will be for corneal transplants. This helps to restore or improve vision for people with corneas damaged by disease, injury, or infection. (The cornea is the clear surface that covers the front of the eye.)
Eye banks might also retrieve tissue for medical research or to educate healthcare professionals. In a smaller number of cases, the sclera can also be transplanted. (The sclera is the white part of the eye.) At this time, it is not possible to transplant an entire eye.
A few facts to consider
- Almost everyone can be an eye donor. Restrictions usually involve certain highly infectious diseases.
- Over 44,000 corneal transplants are done in the U.S. each year.
- Over 95% of corneal transplants are successful.
- While scientists are working to develop artificial corneas, there are currently no substitutes as effective in restoring vision as a donated human cornea.
Before you donate your eyes
You can register online to be an eye donor. Registration can be done through individual eye banks or the Eye Bank Association of America. Registration provides easy access to your information, no matter where you’re located at the time of your death.
It’s important to let your family know your wishes. Even if you’re registered as a donor, the eye bank will attempt to seek consent from your family. Let your family know that there’s no cost involved in donating. The transplant center covers the cost of organ retrieval.
Be sure to show your desire to be a donor when you get or renew your driver’s license. You can specify which organs and tissues you’re willing to donate. This quickly alerts emergency providers and other medical personnel to your wishes.
The donation process
Upon death, the eye bank reviews the donor’s medical history through contact with family and by reviewing medical records. A donor technician then goes directly to the hospital or morgue to retrieve the corneas and other donated portions of the eye.
While the protocol varies between eye banks, in general, they must remove the tissue within 8-12 hours of death. The eye tissue can be stored for up to 14 days. However, because of the high demand, tissue transplantation usually occurs within 3-4 days.
After the donation
Donation of one’s eyes should not delay a funeral. Nor should it prevent an open casket funeral.
Eye banks will not reveal the identity of the person (or people) who received your donated eye tissues. However, they generally provide an opportunity for the donor’s family and the recipient to write letters to one another anonymously through the eye bank.
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How Old Is Too Old To Be An Organ Donor
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