During my military career, I had a number of duties including preparing soldiers for deployments. As platoon sergeant and medical specialist, I performed medical and drug screenings.A fellow soldier worked at Advancing Sight, which was then called the Alabama Eye Bank. We talked about how they helped patients across the world, and that opened my eyes to the gift that donors and their families provided.After observing several eye tissue recoveries, I knew this was the next step in my career. That was 11 years ago, and I’m still going strong.The most important part of my job is to recover the eye tissue to the best of my ability so it can be used to restore eyesight. I always tell families, “thank you so much for your donation and your gift of sight during this difficult time. You and your family are greatly appreciated.” I also explain the process and let them know their loved one will be treated with the utmost dignity and respect.

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