When she was in college, Crystal Ellis struggled with a lack of depth perception due to a giant cloudy scar on her right eye.
Once, during a zoology test, the professor grew frustrated with her when said she could not see what was being pointed out under the right eyepiece of a binocular microscope.
“He kept coming over and saying, ‘it’s right there,’ thinking I was messing around or that I didn’t know the answer,” Crystal says.
Ultimately, Crystal was able to convince the professor that she had trouble seeing with her right eye, and the professor allowed her to retake the test by looking through the right eyepiece with her left eye.
“It was awful! I questioned my ability to complete my degree,” Crystal says.
In 2005, to restore the sight in her right eye, Crystal had a cornea at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids.
“It hit me that someone had to die for me to get this transplant,” Crystal says. “Then when you find out it was a young boy, so sweet and with so much of their life left to live, it really sinks in.”
After corresponding with her donor’s family via Iowa Lions Eye Bank, Crystal learned her donor’s name was a five-year-old boy named Jarren Ray Moser, who had died in an accident. Six years after receiving the transplant, Crystal met Jarren’s family, including his mother, Misty.
Unfortunately, Crystal did not heal well after receiving Jarren’s cornea, due to a viral infection she did not know she had at the time of the transplant. She found herself almost always having to close her right eye in a bright room or when she was outside.
“It was like looking through a double-folded piece of wax paper with minimal shapes and shading,” Crystal says, adding that bright light also led to migraines.
In 2019, Crystal underwent another corneal transplant in her right eye at University of Iowa Health Care. Luckily, this transplant was a success. Crystal no longer gets migraines or has light sensitivity. Although full vision has not been restored to the right eye, her sight is rated at 20/200 or 20/300.
Crystal wrote to her second donor’s loved ones to express her gratitude but hasn’t heard back from them. However, Crystal and Misty remain in touch. They see each other often, text and follow each other on social media, and volunteer for Iowa Donor Network and Iowa Lions Eye Bank.
Crystal and Misty also have taken part in the Transplant Games of America as part of Team Iowa. The Transplant Games take place every two years and give eye, organ and tissue recipients and living donors the opportunity to take part in different sports and activities.
In July, Crystal and Misty attended the 2024 Transplant Games of America in Birmingham, Ala., where Crystal competed in darts and cornhole.
After competing, Crystal says she always takes one of the medals she receives, has it inscribed with Jarren’s name, and gives it to Misty for Christmas.
“I cannot imagine being in my donor family’s shoes and having someone come to me and ask about donation,” Crystal says.
Crystal stated that being a part of the Transplant Games of America and hearing the stories of those who also have had transplants has made the recovery from her second transplant less stressful, and she hopes to help make others’ recoveries easier as well.
(Story courtesy of Georgia Eye Bank)