Cassandra Perry’s Cornea Transplant Story

cassandra-profile2

Cornea recipient

Cassandra Perry was 30 and a single mom of two when the news came: She was going blind. Click here to sign up.

She had been experiencing a gradual loss of vision that she attributed to her extreme near sightedness. “I couldn’t see the details of things like blades of grass,” Cassandra said.

A new eye doctor diagnosed her with Fuch’s dystrophy, a degenerative disease that thickens the corneas (the eye’s lens) and causes pain, distorted vision and blindness. Cassandra, of Northville, was terrified she wouldn’t be able to provide for her eight-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

Just one day after her diagnosis, she saw an ophthalmologist, who contacted the Michigan Eye-Bank, which is a partner of Gift of Life Michigan. The Eye-Bank fulfills the wishes of donors who want to give their corneas to help people receive a second chance for sight. Cassandra received two transplants over a 4 month period and one month after the surgery, began to see a whole new world. “The things I had been missing for years started to come into focus,” she said. “Like the freckles on my son’s face.”

The decisions of strangers, who wanted only to help others, saved Cassandra’s vision and helped her remain the sole provider for her family. She’s grateful to her donors and to those who helped make it all possible: “The Michigan Eye-Bank gave me hope and they gave me sight,” she said. “I can’t thank them enough.”

Go to https://www.michiganeyebank.org for more information about cornea donation.

Read More Posts
Lisa Haney

Transplant Throwback: Lisa Haney

Name: Lisa Haney  Age: 54  Home: Detroit  Transplant: Heart  Why did you need a transplant…

Read More
His time as a nurse assistant at Mott helping pediatric heart patients is a full-circle experience for Tommy.

Tommy Schomaker survives and thrives helping sick kids like him

He graduated this spring with a nursing degree Tommy Schomaker entered the world in 2000…

Read More

A mother’s mission

When Cindy Hanback answered the phone and heard her son Alex’s voice, she thought he…

Read More

A son’s gift of healing

When 23-year-old Dalton Magwood passed away, his mother Haley was devastated – but she carried…

Read More
Deb Gustafson helps organize events where volunteers craft warm, fuzzy comfort blankets to help ease the grief of donor families.

Volunteer Spotlight: Deb Gustafson gets a kidney, then offers comfort to families from her heart

Deb Gustafson’s life changed at church one morning when a friend named Bonnie sidled up…

Read More

“I’m so thankful I’m here and for the gift of life”

Brett Bowman, from Woodhaven, Mich., was born with cystic fibrosis. Growing up he was in…

Read More
Scroll to Top