Glaucoma is an eye disease most commonly associated with the elderly. High intraocular pressure, often occurring with advanced age, causes damage to the optic nerve and slowly limits peripheral vision. But the reality is that glaucoma affects people of all ages.
Approximately 46,000 people will need a cornea transplant this year. For people like Tom from Independence, MO who are still of working age, this procedure is the difference between maintaining their livelihoods and not. Tom works as a supply technician for the federal government’s General Services Administration, where he resolves supply discrepancies for federal agencies around the world, and he also serves as a minister in his community. “For me [the transplant was] vital. I’m still a few years away from retirement, so my income is absolute,” he said. “I’m also a minister, so to be able to read scripture and share God’s word, I have to be able to read the Bible.”
Charlene, a cornea transplant recipient from De Soto, KS, calls her experience with transplantation a “journey.” With her sight diminishing, she worried about her position as a third grade teacher in a parochial grade school. “Teaching is what I have done,” she said, “and it’s a lot of my identity.” Without the ability to see, however, she lost her capacity to teach, her self-reliance, and her ability to focus on the important things in life. “My whole life became about taking eye drops and treating the disease,” she said.
For years, Judy of Manhattan, Kan. struggled with vision loss due to Fuchs' dystrophy, a degenerative disease of the cornea. As the condition progressed, she had difficulties reading a phone book or seeing the license plate on the car in front of her.
Losing your eyesight is incredibly devastating on its own. But to suffer from unbearable pain while your vision quickly vanishes is something many of us can’t imagine.
For five years, Robin of St. Louis adapted her life around her declining vision. Yet, because of two generous donor families and a talented eye surgeon, her lost vision was restored soon after her cornea transplants.
Throughout his short life, Jake of Chatham, Ill. was known for his sense of humor and his unwavering loyalty to his friends. According to his mother, Barbara, Jake was always the first person to jump in whenever anyone needed help.
Glaucoma is an eye disease most commonly associated with the elderly. High intraocular pressure, often occurring with advanced age, causes damage to the optic nerve and slowly limits peripheral vision. But the reality is that glaucoma affects people of all ages. 
Approximately 46,000 people will need a cornea transplant this year. For people like Tom from Independence, MO who are still of working age, this procedure is the difference between maintaining their livelihoods and not. Tom works as a supply technician for the federal government’s General Services Administration, where he resolves supply discrepancies for federal agencies around the world, and he also serves as a minister in his community. “For me [the transplant was] vital. I’m still a few years away from retirement, so my income is absolute,” he said. “I’m also a minister, so to be able to read scripture and share God’s word, I have to be able to read the Bible.”
Charlene, a cornea transplant recipient from De Soto, KS, calls her experience with transplantation a “journey.” With her sight diminishing, she worried about her position as a third grade teacher in a parochial grade school. “Teaching is what I have done,” she said, “and it’s a lot of my identity.” Without the ability to see, however, she lost her capacity to teach, her self-reliance, and her ability to focus on the important things in life. “My whole life became about taking eye drops and treating the disease,” she said.
For years, Judy of Manhattan, Kan. struggled with vision loss due to Fuchs' dystrophy, a degenerative disease of the cornea. As the condition progressed, she had difficulties reading a phone book or seeing the license plate on the car in front of her.
Losing your eyesight is incredibly devastating on its own. But to suffer from unbearable pain while your vision quickly vanishes is something many of us can’t imagine.
For five years, Robin of St. Louis adapted her life around her declining vision. Yet, because of two generous donor families and a talented eye surgeon, her lost vision was restored soon after her cornea transplants.
Throughout his short life, Jake of Chatham, Ill. was known for his sense of humor and his unwavering loyalty to his friends. According to his mother, Barbara, Jake was always the first person to jump in whenever anyone needed help.
