Coroners Are a Key Donation Partner
RMLEB team shared the human impact of coroners’ partnership in June conferences
By Ryeá O'Neill and Kerry Halladay - June 28, 2023
Eye donation and transplantation would not be possible without our many partners. The coroners and medical examiners in our two-state region of Colorado and Wyoming are very important partners.
Both states’ coroner’s associations held their annual meetings in June. Members of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank (RMLEB) community and professional relations (CPR) team attended both. There they shared the stories of what cornea transplants can mean on the personal level.
Wyoming
June 21-23, we were honored to attend the annual Wyoming Coroners Conference in Casper. This valuable yearly event sees coroners, forensic pathologists, lead investigators, and deputy coroners gather from around the state to share knowledge, perform case reviews, and update best practices.
Bill Fehringer told the Wyoming coroners about his cornea transplant story.
Ryeá, the CPR’s team member based in Wyoming represented RMLEB at the meeting. She shared information about cornea donation, the importance of timing and communication during cases, and how best to honor donors and their families. Working together, we can ensure both the needs of the coroners’ investigation as well as those of the donor families are met.
Ryeá’s presentation included Bill Fehringer’s story. Bill was in a traumatic accident at work in 1980, where acid splattered his face and damaged both corneas. That damage progressed over the years and led to the need for a cornea transplant in his left eye. In 2002, Bill received “the call” that would change his life and his vision forever; he had 24 hours to get to Denver from Wyoming to receive his cornea transplant. Bill says he thinks of the young man who was his donor every day.
“If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t know what my vision would be like today. I am forever grateful. You’ll never know how many lives you can touch,” Bill told the conference attendees. He thanked them for all they do every day to help make cornea donation happen in Wyoming.
Colorado
The Colorado Coroners Association held its annual conference June 6-9 in Colorado Springs. Over 18 vendors, 140 in-person attendees, and 20 remote attendees participated.
Kerry showed this map of the world that shows where all tissues from donors who died under the jurisdiction of Colorado coroners 2022.
During their presentation, Kerry, a CPR team member based in Colorado, focused on the world-wide impact of the Colorado coroners on eye tissue donation. In 2022, almost half of all potential eye donors in RMLEB’s service area fell under their jurisdiction. The tissues from those cases went on to save or restore sight in over 1,100 people. Those recipients lived in 24 states and more than 20 different countries.
The largest county coroners’ offices could expect to have a large impact, of course. But Kerry pointed out that even counties with small populations and few eye tissues donors can share the gift of sight around the world. For example, Alamosa County had only one eye tissue donor in 2022. One of her corneas went to restore sight in a local Coloradan in need; the other restored sight in an older man from Chile.
RMLEB has the honor of safeguarding donors’ sight-saving and life-changing gifts. Together with our partners, we can ensure the wishes of donors and their families to help another to overcome blindness through transplantation and research are realized. We could not do it without our coroner partners.