Eyesight is one of the most beautiful gifts we could have. Unfortunately, there are millions out there in the world who either don’t receive this gift by birth or lose due to unfortunate circumstances faced during life. As human beings, there is something we can do for them so that they can see the world through our eyes. And that something is eye donation.

Some fact about blindness

You will be amazed to know that there are a total of 285 million people in the world who are visually impaired. These include 39 million blind and the rest having poor vision.

If you decide to donate your eyes upon your passing, these 285 million people can have the ray of hope that they will be able to see how beautiful this world is one day!

How do eye donations work?

Donation is an act of charity that anyone can do. Anyone can sign up for eye donation after death. The cornea from the eye donor is transferred to the person suffering from corneal blindness.

Now the question is what is corneal blindness? The tissue covering the front of eye is cornea. It helps the eye to focus. Any damage to this clear tissue can lead to vision impairment, and even blindness. The worst thing is that even though science has made groundbreaking advancements, there have been no artificial replacements invented for corneas. It can be replaced only using the cornea of a donor.

Now this is where eye donation comes to the picture. If you want someone to see this world with your eyes once you are gone, then you can donate your eyes by going to an eye bank.

There is no limitation or complication in eye donation

A quick question that might have popped up in your mind here would be: Are there any limitations to donating eyes. You might be surprised to know that there are few limits to eye donation. Anyone and everyone can donate eyes. Even if you have a history of medical ailment like diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis or allergic problems like Asthma, you can still donate your eyes.

However, there are a few conditions in which you cannot donate your eyes. Those are viral diseases like Rabies, AIDS, Tetanus, Cancer, Jaundice and Brain tumor to name the major ones.

If, after reading this article, you would like to donate your eyes to someone who could use them after you are gone, click here for a wikipedia page that will give more info about eye donations. Scroll down the page for a list of eye donation charities around the US.

NOTE: The Give Me Sight Foundation does not raise money for eye donations. Rather, we focus on raising donations for cataracts, strabismus and pterygium. For more information about what we work with, watch the following video of our founder, Dr. John Haines.