Call for cornea donors as stocks run low

Health officials have issued a call for people to become cornea donors in the event of their death after it emerged that eye bank stocks are running low.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) warned that eye stocks, which are needed to provide sight-saving operations, are running 19% below the desired level.

NHSBT’s eye banks in Manchester and Bristol need at least 350 corneas to supply demand for patients in hospitals.

But on September 27, there were just 285 corneas, it said.

The health authority said that in the last year, 3,504 people in England have had their sight restored through cornea transplants.

It has urged more people to agree to become cornea donors in the event of their death.

Helen Gillan, general manager for tissue and eye services at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Donating sight means there can be light after darkness.

“Our eye banks are currently well below the level we’d like to see and we understand that people often view the eyes with more emotion and see them as symbolic than other parts of the body.

“You can help us by saying yes to cornea donation and giving the gift of sight to another.

“Almost anyone can donate their sight. People tell us the decision to donate brings a sense of pride and comfort.”

The mother of a toddler who had two cornea transplants as a baby after being born with a very rare condition said she is “eternally grateful” to her son’s donors.

Benjamin Bates, four, from Huddersfield, was born with Peters anomaly, which meant the front portion of his eyes did not develop properly, causing his corneas to be very cloudy.

His mother Sarah Cracknell said: “The second I saw Benjamin I knew he was blind. Both of his eyes were opaque, there was no visible pupil.

“From the day Benjamin was born I knew the only hope he had of gaining any vision would be to go down the transplant route.”

She added: “I am eternally grateful to the donors. They have totally transformed my little boy’s life.

“I won’t ever take for granted the precious sight Benji has. He doesn’t see like me or you but he can see.

“Watching him reach out to touch something or colour a picture, these are things I never knew I’d have. I feel very thankful.”

– For more information visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.