Page 8 - LGS Today Newsletter Fall 2021

Donor Spotlight: Mary Beth
Mary Beth was warm, generous, and loved to laugh. With a kind personality and a wicked sense of humor, she was a welcome addition on field trips to the Children’s Theatre, a visit to a coffee shop, an excursion to Little House on the Prairie sites, or trips to the lake. Mary Beth loved music and could be found singing to John Denver or Peter, Paul, and Mary any time. She had a prodigious memory and would ask you about children, parents, friends, or pets that you had mentioned just in passing. She was a kind and loving presence in her roommate Anne’s life for more than 40 years.
From a young age, Mary Beth battled retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited degenerative eye disease that
decreases a person’s peripheral vision. As she aged, seeing became in- creasingly difficult, and Mary Beth had to rely on caregivers to help her navigate. But her optimism was constant, and she remained a positive influence on others, including Mary Beth! You could
frequently hear her murmuring encouraging words to herself like, “Good job, M.B.”
Mary Beth volunteered for the eye bank, and gave us more than 80 hours of her time. Because she
believed in our work and because of her own vision problems, Mary Beth made the decision to do-
nate her eyes to research when she died, her last and greatest gift to Lions Gift of Sight. Mary Beth’s
eyes found a home with a University of Iowa researcher studying rare human retinal diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa. One day this research could lead to better treatments or a cure for patients like Mary Beth. Very good job, indeed, M.B.!
Recipient Spotlight: Lalita
As a teacher and professor of education at St. Cloud State University, Lalita’s life involved volumes of reading and countless work hours on the computer. So it was extremely unsettling for Lalita to realize that her vision was steadily failing.
“I had difficulty distinguishing surfaces that were the same color but at different levels or of different shapes. For example, I could not tell where the street ended and the sidewalk began when both were white and covered with snow.”
As it turned out, Lalita had Fuchs’ dystrophy, an eye disease that affects the delicate inner layers of the cornea. Lalita’s corneal cells began to die, causing swelling. Her vision became distorted, and everything began to look murky. Fuchs’ dystrophy is a progressive disease, and as it worsens painful blisters can form on the eye’s surface.
Fortunately for Lalita, a corneal transplant could save her vision. She received donor corneas through Lions Gift of Sight, first for her right eye and then for her left. Lalita reports that her eyesight is back to what it used to be, and along with that comes restored confidence.
To her cornea donors’ families Lalita says, “I thank you for sharing with me your beloved family member. I sincerely hope that the story of my recovery helps you heal during what is undoubtedly a time of great sorrow. I am eternally grateful.”
8 Lions Gift of Sight