In 2025, Iowa Lions Eye Bank will celebrate its 70th anniversary. To celebrate, we will be posting occasional features about people who have either had an impact, or been impacted by, the eye bank over the years.
Jennifer Konfrst has a lot of gratitude for the Iowa Lions.
Konfrst, who is a professor of public relations at Drake University and has been the Minority Leader in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2021, received an academic scholarship from the Johnston Lions Club during her senior year in high school.
“I always felt like the Lions were part of my story,” Konfrst says.
After receiving her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Drake, Konfrst began working in public relations and raising her family.
When Konfrst was 37, she began having a lot of trouble with the vision in her right eye.
“I didn’t feel safe driving at night because of the glare and the stars that would happen when my eyes got all watery,” Konfrst says.
Konfrst has Fuchs Dystrophy, a genetic disorder which affects the clear, outer part of the eye called the cornea. She says her aunt and grandmother have Fuchs as well.
After consulting with Dr. Kenneth Goins, now a professor emeritus of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Iowa, Konfrst was told she needed a cornea transplant in her right eye.
“I had to have my surgery much younger than normal for Fuchs,” Konfrst says. “The way Dr. Goins put it was that all the cells died in my field of vision first. He said it looked like a moon crater.”
When she was told she needed a transplant, Konfrst wasn’t familiar with the procedure.
“I thought I needed to be on a waiting list and that it would be forever, and the doctor was like, this can happen in two weeks.” Konfrst says. And Iowa Lions Eye Bank is what that made that possible.”
In 2011, when her kids were 11 and 9 years old, Konfrst was working at Iowa PBS. After appearing onscreen for the December pledge drive, she came to Iowa City to have Dr. Goins perform her cornea transplant at University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center-University Campus.
“I was there with my mom, and it was so close to Christmas,” Konfrst says. “After the surgery I recovered overnight in a hotel. In my trunk we had brought every Christmas present, so my mom spent the time wrapping Christmas presents. That took one more thing off my plate because I didn’t know what to expect after the surgery.”
After the surgery, the vision in Konfrst’s eye was restored.
“I thought for sure I would need to wear glasses, but I didn’t have to wear glasses for the next 13 years, until I turned 50,” Konfrst says. “I had the freedom to be the mom I wanted to be without having this hang over me. My condition wasn’t life threatening, but this transplant gave me my life back in a way that was unexpectedly meaningful.”
Konfrst says the transplant taught her a lot about humility.
“When you’re in your 30s and you have kids, you don’t stop to think for a minute about your body and what it can and can’t do,” Konfrst says. “You stop and realize, how lucky we are, how connected we are and get a sense of appreciation and gratitude for people you don’t even know.”
The fact that Iowa Lions Clubs were involved in her ability to receive a college education, as well as the eye bank that restored her vision, is deeply meaningful, Konfrst says.
“It felt like it was meant to be,” Konfrst says of the connection.