Kelly got contact lenses when she was 13, and wore them almost every day for about 10 years. In her final year of university, she noticed that her eyes would get progressively irritated throughout the day. After many breaks from her contacts and visits to the eye doctor, she would be cleared to wear her contacts again, but the irritation, clouded vision, and light-sensitivity came back. Her symptoms progressed quickly, and within months, she was told she would need corneal tissue transplants in both eyes.
Having never had issues with her eyes before, Kelly was in shock and reflects on how delicate our bodies can be: “It really makes you realize how fragile life is. Anybody can become disabled with loss of vision, loss of mobility… this can happen to anybody.” Although it was never clear what happened, one specialist suspected that Kelly had an allergic reaction to a preservative used in contact lens solution at the time. The stem cells in her eyes were permanently damaged and couldn’t produce clear cornea cells, which constantly regenerate in a healthy eye.
Kelly was on the transplant waitlist for a full year before she received her first surgery in 1985. She cried in the hospital when she realized her eyesight was fully restored. Following her surgery, she started her career as an accountant, moved to a small town, fell in love, and got married. Since her cornea could not regenerate, her vision grew cloudy again, and in the mid-90s, Kelly received a stem cell transplant in both eyes before corneal transplants—this time, without having to wait. “[Eye banks and community organizations] did such a tremendous job of promoting corneal tissue donation, they eliminated waitlists at the time. Enough people were making the choice to pass them on at the end of their lives. It is truly incredible,” Kelly says. After these surgeries restored her sight again, she felt comfortable enough to start a family.
What Kelly finds remarkable is that as her eyes have continued to worsen over her lifetime, the science has also managed to advance with new treatments for her. Kelly has required several additional surgeries, including the placement of unique device that acts as an artificial cornea. Donated corneal tissue was required to attach the devices to her eyes.
Over her lifetime, Kelly has received eight corneal tissue transplants (four in each eye). While she is grateful her condition was not life-threatening, Kelly would have had a very different life without her donors. “To lose your sight after you’ve experienced your life with vision… it is a difficult thing to comprehend. I know people do it all the time, but I don’t think I would have had kids without my donors. It breaks my heart to think that I might not have had my daughter,” Kelly reflects.
Tissue donation often does not get as much attention as organ donation, and Kelly wanted to share her story because she wanted people to understand the impact of this gift: “Donors will never know how it changes a person’s life…but it’s everything: the ability to cook, read, see someone’s smile…it’s confidence and independence. It’s a gift of experiences that would never have been possible otherwise.”
And Kelly still savours every one of her new experiences. She recently went on a trip to explore Greece with her daughter and appreciated every minute of it: “I can’t imagine being more grateful for anything else in this world. This is more than just good fortune. This is really the result of someone else’s complete and utter benevolence.”