DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - March 07, 2016) - What if the blind could suddenly see? A unique exhibit featuring photographs taken by people who were once blind but can now see because of a corneal transplant opens for one night in Denver on March 10 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Space Gallery, located at 400 Santa Fe Drive. The exhibit is presented by the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank (RMLEB) to celebrate National Eye Donation Month.
The exhibit photos are from the eye bank's Circle of Light Photo Project and were taken by people from all around the state who received cornea transplants from an eye donor in Colorado or Wyoming. The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank (RMLEB) asked recipients to pick up a camera and capture the things they were most grateful to be able to see through their restored vision.
Cornea transplants are a cure for corneal blindness, which accounts for about 10 percent of all blindness. Each year, approximately 600 people in Colorado and Wyoming receive sight-restorative transplants. In 2015, the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank facilitated the donation and transplantation of corneas from 2,355 eye donors in Colorado and Wyoming. Those donations resulted in 2,220 sight-restorative transplants. Since 1982, RMLEB has facilitated over 40,000 transplants.
Contrary to popular belief, eye donors do not need good eyesight. Even donors who were legally blind are able to help someone else through donation and transplantation of their eye tissue. Colorado and Wyoming residents can register to be eye, organ and tissue donors at the time of driver's license renewal or online at www.corneas.org. Registration forms will be available at the exhibit.
Cornea transplant recipients know better than anyone the impact eye, organ and tissue donation can have on the lives of others. Through this project, the recipients had a chance to give back, honor their donor and show the world just how big that impact is. Each of the photographs will be available for purchase in a silent auction during the exhibit. All proceeds benefit the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, the nonprofit organization responsible for keeping your promise to help others see again through eye, organ and tissue donation.
Tickets are available at www.corneas.org/tix.
The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank serves eye donors and their families and provides for sight-saving transplantation locally, nationally and worldwide. It is the recovery agency for donated eye tissue in Colorado and Wyoming.