Hoping her husband's gift makes a difference, Iowa

Encourages all to become organ donors

Source: The Ogden Reporter

There is a good chance someone out there has been given a gift a vision due to the generosity of Louella Miller of rural Boone.

"When Bob died I just thought since he had cancer he couldn't donate any organs," said Miller. She was surprised when a nurse approached her in the hospital and asked if she thought of donating his eyes. "Apparently cancer usually doesn't affect the eyes." Bob's eyes were harvested there at Boone County Hospital in mid-November shortly after his death, and were transported to the Iowa Lions Eye Bank at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

There the organs were made ready for a corneal transplant. Because the gift of sight is made anonymously Miller may never know if the eyes were transplanted. And if his corneas were determined unsuitable for transplant they could be used for research and education. And that was fine with Miller. "Anything we can do to help," she said.

Hundreds of corneal transplants are performed each year in Iowa to successfully restore vision to patients suffering from corneal problems and deteriorating vision. The cornea is the transparent, dome-shaped window covering the front of the eye. It works, in addition to the lens, to provid focusing power to the eye. If the cornea becomes opaque, swollen or scarred, vision is compromised and a transplant may be necessary.

The Iowa Lions Eye Bank provided organ and tissue donor pins (green ribbons) which Miller handed out at the funeral. Those leftover pins were put to good use when Miller donated the remaining ones to Michelle Hull, president of the Boone Lions Club. The pins will be used to create awareness of the organ and tissue donor program. The Lions Club donates to the Eye Bank through the Iowa Lions Foundation.