HOUSTON—Georgia Kate Poole might never have 20/20 vision. But after two operations at Texas Children’s Hospital, the little girl born blind in Louisiana will—at the very least—have the chance to see her parents smile.
"They had her on my chest," her mom, JoAnna, said of the moments after Georgia was born. "And she kind of peeked open her little eye and I thought, ‘Something’s not right.’"
Georgia was born with a disorder called Peter’s Anomaly, a rare congenital disease that clouds the eyes and leaves a child completely blind if untreated. At the Pooles’ first consultations with pediatric opthalmologists in Louisiana, they were told to wait several months to a year to consider surgical intervention. But Ashton and JoAnna Poole’s own hurried research into treatment led them to believe that the earlier Georgia could have surgery, the better—that the first years of her life are vital to brain and vision development.
Dr. Bowes Hamill agreed.
"Without this, she would only be really seeing light and dark," said Hamill, an opthalmologist with Texas Children’s Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine. Hamill performed cornea transplants on both of Georgia’s eyes. The first surgery took place when Georgia was just 9 days old. The second cornea transplant, replacing the diseased and damaged outer clear covering of the eye, happened Thursday, with Georgia just shy of 3 months old.
"Without somebody donating a cornea, this child would be blind," said Hamill of the critical need for people to consider organ and tissue donation.
"That they can do that kind of surgery on something so small underneath a microscope the whole time is incredible," said Georgia’s father Ashton Poole. "You know 40 years ago she would have most likely just been blind."
By Thursday afternoon, Georgia was in a recovery room at Texas Children’s Hospital, and her parents planned to take her home to Louisiana on Friday. Their expectations are realistic: doctors never promised the surgeries would give her perfect eyesight. But after the first surgery, Ashton and JoAnna realized Georgia recognized them, and smiled.
That’s enough for now.
"She’s done great. It looks great. She’s done great," said JoAnna Poole. "My hope is for the best outcome possible. That’s my dream for her, just a normal, happy, healthy life."
A life that a little girl and her parents now have a chance to see.
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