by ASN | Oct 13, 2020 | Donor Month, Share Your Story
The main reason that I do this job is that it gives me the ability to be a part of an organization that positively impacts the lives of families in countries all over the world. Eyesight is often taken for granted when it functions properly, but once it begins to wane every aspect of someone’s life can be impacted. To know that I’m a part of an organization that improves the quality of life for entire families is very rewarding.
The most important thing that I do in my workday is performing insitu-procedures. The corneas that are acquired during the procedure will be given to individuals that need a corneal transplant.
The best part of my job is being able to interact with the families of corneal donors and seeing how their decision to donate their family member’s corneas helped them find solace during a time of immeasurable pain and sadness.
by ASN | Oct 13, 2020 | Donor Month, Share Your Story
“My mother passed away when I was a child. She could only donate her eyes because of the cancer. I started doing this job out of the curiosity that grew out of that experience. At the time I didn’t understand what it meant to donate.
Her cancer began when she was only 25, and she passed away at the tender age of 38. She was a wife, a mother of two girls, and a wonderful nurse. I have long heard stories of the kind things she did for others throughout the years.
I was always so curious about who she helped last. In my own way, I guess I am helping do the last good deed my sweet mother fulfilled on this earth.
I love what I do. What I love even more is teaching people how to do recoveries precisely and in a sterile fashion. They can take that knowledge and have an impact on the world of corneal transplants.
We are all links in a chain that can work together to improve the gift of sight.”
-Sara Strickland
by ASN | Oct 13, 2020 | Donor Month, Share Your Story
“There were two tiny kittens left in a landfill. They were only about 2 weeks old, and they were covered in fleas and brake fluid. I’m working from home during Covid, so I was able to take them in and bottle feed them. I named them Tiger and Rocky.
Once they were clean, I noticed their eyes did not look normal. I contacted Kitty Kat Haven, and they helped me see an eye specialist. We found out from the specialist that their eyelids did not form. This caused their hair to rub their corneas and irritate the eyes.
Without expensive surgery, the kittens would go blind, making it extremely difficult for them to be adopted. I was able to foster them until they reached 14 weeks, putting ointment in their eyes twice a day to prevent further damage to their eyes.
They are now with another foster family who will care for them until they have surgery. While enhancing human lives through my work with eye donation, I was able to save two kittens’ eyes.”
by ASN | Oct 13, 2020 | Donor Month, Share Your Story
Bob Randolph had a magnetic personality and an adventurous spirit. “There wasn’t anything that wasn’t fun with Bob,” says his wife, Caroline. “Every day was an adventure.”
Bob and Caroline met on a blind date in California, and they were married in Las Vegas just a few months later. “He had the most beautiful blue eyes. He had the best sense of humor.Everyone loved him,” Caroline remembers. “Bob had this way of making others feel important and at ease.
”Bob loved camping, was a voracious reader, and loved finding excitement in everyday life. “On the weekends, we would get in the car, pick a direction, and just drive. We loved stopping at mom and pop restaurants we’d find along the way,” says Caroline.
Bob served in Vietnam and Desert Storm as a Navy corpsman, and he was EMS coordinator for three military bases. “He was a career military man, just like his father. His job was to heal,” said Caroline, who herself was an EMT and a nurse’s aid. Following his military service, Bob was a phlebotomist at the VA hospital. (more…)
by ASN | Oct 13, 2020 | Donor Month, Share Your Story
Advancing Sight Network ships corneal tissue to 49 states and 56 countries so people can receive sight-saving corneal transplants. Delta cargo agent Lorenzo Dent makes sure the eye tissue makes it to the right place. He knows exactly how important it is to the person awaiting surgery.
“I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes,” he says. “During this time, the vision in my right eye was very blurry.”
Lorenzo’s other eye was already weak from glaucoma, and his doctors felt it was urgent to correct his vision as much as possible. “I couldn’t really see clearly at all,” Lorenzo says. “I couldn’t drive anymore. I had to use the assistant devices on my phone just to read a text.I had to use a magnifying glass at work.”
Lorenzo hated to be dependent on others, but his worsening vision left him no choice.
“I had to depend on everyone around me just to survive,” Lorenzo remembers. “During this time in my life, everything took 300% more effort to do simple things. It left me in a place of hopelessness.” (more…)
