How Donation Helps
"My name is Charles and I am the grateful recipient of a cornea. Because of your thoughtfulness, I am able to write this letter, drive my car, read the paper...and I cannot thank you enough. Today, people you don't know, people you'll never meet, share your grief and rejoice in your gift. These are the people helped by your donation to the Cincinnati Eye Bank."
The Cincinnati Eye Bank’s primary option is always that donated tissue be used for transplantation, however, not all donated eyes are suitable for surgery. Donor tissue which is not suitable for transplantation can still give the gift of sight through the option of medical research and teaching. Whether the gift is used for corneal transplantation or for the equally important purpose of research and teaching, its benefits are profound.
Infants to the elderly can be considered potential eye donors. No one should eliminate themselves as a donor because of age or pre-existing medical condition. Each potential eye donor is evaluated on an individual basis for suitability.