Grandmother's thanks for the gift of sight as she makes organ donation appeal
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Julie Currie’s greatest joy is to be able to see her four grandchildren and other family members.
Beyond that, the cornea transplant treatment the Sunderland Eye Infirmary patient has been given means she is not living in the terrible pain her inherited condition can cause.
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Hide AdThe 57-year-old has shared her story to mark Organ Donation Week, which is underway and runs until Sunday, September 29. The register is now opt-out, rather than sign up, but loved ones are still be involved in discussions before a donation takes place following a death.
Nationally, there is a shortage of cornea tissue to help those in need. South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the eye hospital, has around 80 patients who have been waiting on the list for more than a year.
Julie’s Consultant Mr Saurabh Ghosh has explained across the UK, around 50 donations are received by NHS Blood and Transplant each week, but the need to help treat corneal disease is much more.


In the last year, the Trust has helped support 22 donations to the NHS Blood and Transplant’s Eye Banks.
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Hide AdPoor eyesight is not a barrier to becoming a donor and two corneas can be used to save the sight of several people.
Julie, her father George Youngs, who died five years ago aged 85, and her son Ricky Lumb, 37, were born with a form of cornea dystrophy.
All three have been beneficiaries of cornea transplants.


Her condition means the cornea cannot pump fluid across the cornea. This causes blistering on the surface of the eyes. In terms of her vision, Julie likens it to seeing underwater.
Her own initial transplant took place when she was 19. She has had a further 10 transplants carried out through by Sunderland Eye Infirmary, the North East’s specialist eye hospital, and Darlington Memorial Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
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Hide AdSadly for Julie, the treatment has had to be repeated because her body either rejects the tissue or because there have been complications.
Julie, who is married to Graham, 54, and is also mum to Christine Coats, 34, is grandmother to Phoebe Lumb, nine, and Richard Lumb, five, Leonard Coats, seven, and two-year-old Beatrice Coats.


Julie began her education in a mainstream school before moving on to one for blind children. She later went to a boarding school specially for those who had issues with the sight in Hertfordshire, where she would be away from home for seven weeks at a time.


Following her transplants, she completed a social policy degree and a masters in social research methods and then worked as a public servant for Darlington Borough Council.
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Hide AdNow retired, she loves spending time with her family and in her garden, but knows her treatment through the eye infirmary is ongoing and she needs to look after the vision she has.
She said: “I want to express just how much it means to have a transplant, I’m so grateful.
“To anyone out there facing that decision, to me, it is like that family member is still alive.
“Because I’m able to continue to use their tissue – their cornea – it’s keeping that part of them going, they’re still seeing the world.
“It means I can see my grandchildren and that is amazing.
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“The transplants I’ve had have just made such a difference to my life. I’d started to lose my confidence and not be able to do things for myself. My sight now isn’t perfect and I do still need some help, but I can see so much better.
“Since our first grandchild was born, we’ve been looking to see if they also have the condition, because it’s inherited, but so far, they’re OK. It’s not easy being in school. I grew up feeling different to other children around me.
“I think for anyone who has made that choice to donate, it is an amazing thing to do to make that difference. I want to put out that message to other people, this is a way their loved ones can go on and see.”


Mr Ghosh is among a team of specialists who carry out grafts and is among surgeons on standby up and down the country ready to operate when a donor becomes available to help their patient.
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Hide AdMr Ghosh said: “The gift of sight or life is the greatest gift someone can give. Not only that, but one person’s donations can help many people, so the difference it can make is not only to that patient, but to their friends and family too, is huge.
“As Organ Donation Week nears, we really want to encourage people to have that conversation to share their views. While it is opt out, family members sometimes say no when it comes to the eyes.
“We know people can be unsure, but it makes no difference to how they look once the cornea has been taken and only that part is touched.
“There was a long backlog before Covid and now, those who have been on the waiting list the longest are rightly called first, and of course there are emergencies because people have experienced a trauma.
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Hide Ad“But that means overall, waits are long, and there just isn’t the supply for us to be able to help as many people as we want to.
“Please take time to have that chat with your family. It could mean so much to someone out there.”
To find out more about organ donation, visit the NHS Blood and Transplant Organ Donation website.
The STS Charity, which is run by South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust to offer patients and staff extras, is leading the Vision Appeal.
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Hide AdThis will boost the equipment and additional touches to the new eye hospital in Sunderland city centre. Work began last November and is expected to take around two years to complete.
For more information about the fund, visit the STS Charity page.
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