• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • EBCT Journal
  • eyeLEARN
  • Find an Eye Bank
  • Member Login
EBAA

EBAA

We restore sight worldwide

  • Home
  • About
        • About EBAA
        • EBAA is the nationally-recognized accrediting and standards setting body for eye banks.

          • Mission & Vision
          • Board of Directors
          • History
          • Staff
          • Governing Documents
          • Committees
        • View our History Timeline!

  • Members
        • Members
        • We serve our members through a variety of services, resources, education, and much more.

          • Eye Bank Membership
          • Accreditation
          • Paton Society Membership
          • Certification
          • Grants & Scholarships
          • Publications
          • Awards
        • Learn more about the benefits of membership

  • Cornea Donation
        • Cornea Donation
        • Since 1961, EBAA member eye banks have provided tissue for more than 2 million sight restoring, life-changing corneal transplants.

          • Register as a Donor
          • FAQs
          • Regístrese para ser donante
          • What is an eye bank?
          • Common Corneal Diseases
          • The Donation Process
          • Other Uses for Corneas
        • Learn more about the donation process and what eye banks do

  • Events & Observances
        • Events & Observances
          • Events Calendar
          • EBAA Annual Meeting

        • Join us this June in Dallas!

  • News & Stories
        • News & Stories
          • Members in the News
          • Recipient Stories
          • Press Releases
          • Donor Stories
        • Share your donation story today!

News & Stories

Nancy Bommer

May 18, 2015

Nancy Bommer standing in front of a quilt

In the past, when Nancy Bommer sewed the tiny stitches on the quilts she loved to make, she never thought about the blessing it was to see so well.

Then Nancy turned 40 and the way she saw everything changed dramatically. “On eye charts, the only letter I could see was the big E. Things weren’t sharp anymore. I was struggling to see the clasp on my jewelry or to pluck my eyebrows, even with magnification.” Driving became very difficult. Eventually she could no longer see to quilt. For 10 years, doctors near Nancy’s home in Wagener, S.C., and in Georgia asked about her family history and ran tests. They checked her eye pressure, checked for glaucoma and for macular degeneration. Finally, Nancy was diagnosed. She had Fuch’s Dystrophy – a slowly progressing disease that usually affects both eyes but rarely impacts vision until people reach their 50s and 60s. Nancy was told that it was time for cornea transplantation.

Dr. Rick Milne would transplant a donated cornea in each of her eyes, one month apart. Ironically, Nancy’s first transplant on her right eye was during National Eye Donor Month in 2007. The first thing she saw when the bandage was removed? “Clarity! No blurriness, no pain, no floaters. I just had clear vision. I don’t recall that I ever saw that bright in my life. And I can still see the smile on Dr. Milne’s face as he said, ‘You just made my day,’ and I replied, ‘No, you just made mine!’”

After Nancy opened her eyes that March 21, and again one month later following her left cornea transplant, she also got clarity about life. “I was never blind, but I used to have an impaired quality of life; now I have exuberance for living.”

“I can see details that I only heard about from my husband, Wes. He’s a beekeeper. Now I can see the tiny pollen baskets on a bee. It’s exciting to see all the different colors and hues in flowers and how light hits them, to see the feathers in birds and the details in butterflies.” Nancy explains, “My life is a lot like the metamorphosis of the butterfly. I came out of the cocoon and began to have life and flutter around to see what this big universe has in it.”

As a volunteer with LifePoint, Inc., South Carolina’s organ procurement organization, and Donate Life South Carolina, Nancy is intent on “giving back and educating people about registering to be donors.” She speaks to hospital professionals, prisoners, Rotary and Lions Club members, Al Anon family groups and television audiences. “It’s humbling to be able to do what I can do.”

Nancy talks about receiving a phone call from the granddaughter of her right cornea donor. “It was very emotional. I felt guilty because someone who that woman loved had to die for me to get this gift of sight. Like me, my donor had grandchildren. Like me, he was an outdoor person who loved gardening. He loved to fish and I live on a lake. I think God has a plan.”

“Since my cornea transplants, things in my life are more exciting, more rewarding. I have so many opportunities. The things I love and enjoy are possible again. I love seeing an impressive sunrise over the lake and I’ve watched a pair of pileated woodpeckers mating. It was a gift to be able to see that.”

Now that Nancy’s vision is 20/20, what is she still hoping to see? “Every state in this country that I haven’t traveled to, especially Hawaii, the beaches and flowers there, the wild orchids.” Nancy is thrilled to be quilting again, admiring the colors and patterns in the fabrics, and teaching other people to quilt. She has made quilts for all of her grandchildren and they are asking for more. She recently created a new quilt for LifePoint. “It’s a story quilt of the people in South Carolina who wanted to give and were able to give their organs and tissues for transplant.” Each square in the quilt was made by a donor’s loved ones. Nancy displays the donor quilt she created for Lifepoint.

Although Nancy signed up as a donor when she was 20 years old, things are much clearer to her now. “I don’t think I ever understood donation until I became a recipient. It is a gift to see those little things I took for granted that are now a blessing.”

Read more on: Recipient Stories

More News & Stories

Peyton
“We just want to say thank you to Lions Eye Bank for helping us help our baby and to the families who donated corneas,” said Jimmy. “Because of their generosity, our family and Peyton are very fortunate. Thank you.”
Kailee Vigen
The transplant was a success, and Kailee’s vision dramatically improved. Now a vibrant 12- year-old, Kailee is active in school and in extracurricular activities, and her transplant allows her to be a kid to the fullest extent.

Footer

1101 17th Street NW
Suite 400
Washington DC 20036

phone 202.775.4999
fax 202.429.6036

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Connect

  • Contact
  • Share your Story
  • Career Center
  • For the Media
  • Support EBAA

Tools

  • Find an Eye Bank
  • Online Store
  • Advocacy
  • COVID-19 Updates

Our Sites

  • eyeLEARN
  • ONE
  • The Lens
  • eStatIS
  • OARRS
  • EBCT Journal

In Partnership

© 2023 EBAA. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Privacy Policy.
EBAA is a 501(c)(3) organization. EIN 72-0678970

A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size.