Those are the words of Russian-born teenager Yelena Davidenko, who lost her sight as the result of a tumor. Since receiving the Gateway computer with talking software as a Patient Care Program gift from the Everett Lions Club and the Northwest Lions Foundation, the 18-year-old has rushed through those newly-opened doors at a speed that has amazed her teachers at Cascade High in Everett.

“When I first met her, Yelena was very sad and downcast and believed that blind people could do nothing,” says teacher and mentor Denise Mehlenbacher. “She had been out of school for five years. Then, with the help of talking software, she discovered the great advantage of computers, which she had never touched before. When I saw that spark grow in her, I knew she needed a computer to keep her alive through the summer months of no school. I told her I was contacting the Lions for help. She didn’t understand at first, and as I explained the concept, she grew so excited and told me, ‘I had no idea there were such people who did things like that!’”

Since I got my computer, I feel like I received half of my vision back. It gave me wings and opened doors that I had no idea were there.

With the help of the computer, Yelena flew through her education with a 3.8 grade point average and a gift for math. She knows what she wants to do with her life: “Looking at what the Lions have done, I want to do the same,” says Yelena. “I want to help people; want to make them happy; I want to make a difference in somebody’s life.“

At first, Micki Gould just thought she needed reading glasses. But as her vision got progressively worse, the 49-year-old operating room veteran knew she was in real trouble.

In the operating room, a loss of depth perception made it impossible for her to locate and secure the fine sutures used in open heart surgeries. After 28 years as a nurse with “go to” skills, she would soon be useless in the operating room. She could continue in her other capacity as a clinical nurse educator at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham, but for how long?

Even worse, fear became her frequent companion as self-sufficiency slipped away in what seemed like a thousand ways. Perhaps the last straw came when she panicked upon being separated from her husband during a trip to the shopping mall. She knew she was at the mall, but where in the mall? And how would she find her husband without being able to recognize his face from any sort of distance? Micki felt helpless and alone.

A visit to eye surgeon Dr. Thomas Gillette in Seattle revealed the problem. Complications from radial keratoplasty performed on her eyes 15 years prior were taking her vision. On November 22 of last year, Micki underwent the corneal transplant on her right eye that put her life back in order.

After years of assisting surgeons with tissue and organ recoveries that renewed hope and normal life for others, Micki Gould has found herself on the recipient side. And it feels great!

“I have to admit to some fear going into the surgery,” says Micki, “but the recovery and progress has been incredibly positive!”

By the time you read this story, she will have returned to Dr. Gillette for an assessment on whether her left eye also needs transplant surgery. Odds are high that the answer will be “yes,” because she has experienced a definite loss of vision in that eye as well.

This time she’s looking forward to the surgery. As a second timer, her attitude has evolved from fear to anticipation. “The sooner it’s done, the sooner my sight returns,” says Micki.

There’s one thing, however, that she will never take for granted. As one who has personally experienced the real-life drama of organ/tissue donation from both sides now – recovery and recipient – Micki Gould goes forward with a profound respect for the kindness of donors and for organizations like SightLife, who serve as caretakers of their gift.

Katelyn’s family wasn’t aware that she had noticed. Nobody knows how it got there, but, besides robbing Katelyn’s vision, the scar on her left eye had opaqued over much of the brown center with a milky white film. But Katelyn HAD noticed. And when a post-surgery look in the mirror told her that both eyes are now the same, the three-year-old from Idaho was one elated little girl.

Katelyn’s family is more than a little pleased, too. “Thanks to you guys, we have a beautiful, happy little girl,” says Katelyn’s grandmother, Arliss Shove. The Northwest Lions Foundation and the Lions Club from Kateyln’s community split the cost of the $8,500 Patient Care Grant that paid hospital and operating room costs associated with the transplant. Dr. Tueng Shen of the University of Washington donated her time and skill to do the surgery.

As you might guess, cornea transplant surgery for someone so young as Katelyn is unusual. Of the 2,495 corneas SightLife provided for sight-restoring transplants that year, only one or two were for very young children.

Cornea transplants for young children don’t come with the same 90-percent-plus guarantee of restored sight as for adults, but early indications for Katelyn are promising. She has already experienced some restored vision in the eye and enjoys the support of a close-knit family.

“Katelyn and her family deserve our very best, and we’ll be following her progress closely,” said SightLife Chief Operations Officer Bernie Iliakis. “It is a privilege to be in a position to help a special girl like this.”

“The best option for you and your baby is to put her in an institution.”

That’s what a doctor told Julie Bertelsen’s parents 39 years ago when she was born with Downs Syndrome. Allen and Jan Bertelsen ignored that doctor.

Since then all Julie has done to validate her parents’ faith in her future is:

• Win 135 Special Olympics medals in gymnastics and equestrian events, including a Gold and a Silver in the 2007 World Summer Games in Shanghai, China;
• Serve on state and local Special Olympics advisory committees and as an ambassador for the games;
• Work multiple long-term jobs. Julie currently works at the athletic facility for Montana State University and at two local sporting goods stores;
• Win a large following both within the university and the surrounding community from fans who take inspiration from seeing positivism and spunk exuded on a daily basis.

In fact, it seemed like the whole city was at the airport to greet Julie when she returned home from the 2007 games in China. Every member of the Montana State women’s basketball team was in the crowd, as well as athletes from many of the other university teams, customers of the businesses where Julie works, employers, family, and just plain fans.

How our SightLife Lions eye bank fits in

In 1999 when Julie was 29 years old, the athletic career that has brought her so much joy faced a premature end from impending blindness in her right eye. Cornea tissue from SightLife enabled the sight-restoring transplant that saved her vision and provided continued opportunity to excel in sports.

Last year, SightLife weighed in again for Julie when she faced the most devastating loss of her life. Allen Betelsen, Julie’s father, coach, and lifelong hero, died at the age of 69. As attested by the nearly 800 people at his funeral, Allen Bertelsen had the same gift for friendship as his daughter. After seeing what cornea donation had made possible for Julie, there was never a doubt that he would be a donor. Two people in faraway Japan now see the world through his eyes.

Julie found both comfort and pride in her father’s gift. For this woman who has used parental love and God-given spunk to achieve beyond expectations, the lesson must speak as loud as a Lion’s roar: human kindness is a gift that always comes around.

A working woman all her life, Judith DePaoli was going blind from macular degeneration and cataracts. Without insurance, she couldn’t afford the surgery she needed to keep her job at a Seattle-area restaurant.

Doctors’ estimates for the surgery were all upwards of $13,000, and fundraising efforts of family and friends were well short of that goal. The social agencies the family contacted could offer no help until Judith actually lost her job. Judith’s daughter, Becky, was to the point of despair in her efforts to find help when she contacted the Bothell Lions Club.

“I think we can help,” said Club President Whitey Gann. The small Club did just that by partnering with the Northwest Lions Foundation to pay for most of the surgery through a Patient Care grant. The money that family and friends had raised covered the rest.

Weeks later an estatic Becky e-mailed this news: “Mom can now see the leaves on the plants and the cracks in the sidewalk. She finds them equally beautiful.”

After 40 years of caring for more than 100 foster children, Gertrude Matthews sat confined in a tiny apartment in Burien, blinded by an accident of 14 years ago, when a playful two-year old accidently kicked her right eye while they were playing on the couch. With the other eye now failing, too, Gertrude felt like a prisoner of circumstance.

Though she had lived in the apartment for a year, the walls were bare – no need for photos or art you can’t see. Confined to a wheelchair as a result of a stroke, she watched TV from just a few feet away but saw only blurs. Reading was out of the question, and she identified visitors by voices rather than faces. When a staff member of the Northwest Lions Foundation brought her flowers, she used a magnifying glass just to see the colors.

That was the picture for Gertrude, and it wasn’t right. At age 84, if anyone deserved help from others, it was this woman who had given of herself for four decades to children who had no one else to turn to. Gertrude kept up her considerable spirit with memories, like the time one of the boys she had raised traveled from California on his 16th birthday to surprise her with a visit. The boy’s re-united father had asked what he wanted for his birthday. His answer? “Take me to Seattle to see Gertrude.”

Clearly, here was a woman who deserved a helping hand. Her first breakthrough came when surgeon Harry Geggel determined that she was a candidate for Keratoprosthesis – a new type of surgery done with an artificial cornea. Gertrude’s eye had been so badly damaged by the kick that two attempts at traditional transplant surgery with donor cornea tissue had failed to take hold. Familiar with our sight mission, Dr. Geggel called the Northwest Lions Foundation to ask for help with the $3,000 cost of the artificial cornea, which was not covered by Medicare. When Dr. Geggel told us about Gertrude, and about his own commitment to perform the surgery for free, our answer was a resounding yes. A Patient Care Grant from the Foundation paid for half of the cost. Five Lions Clubs – Burien, Renton, Kennydale, Fairwood, and Seattle Rainier – teamed up to pay the other half.

The surgery took place in January 2008, and it worked! Gertrude’s vision has improved dramatically and continues to get better. Now instead of identifying people by their voices, she sees their faces. She’s even reading again.

“It’s hard to tell people who haven’t been through it how good it feels to see again,” she says. “I think I’d rather lose any part of my body other than my eyes. I appreciate what the Lions did for me so much!”

It was our privilege to help, Gertrude. May your eyes light up many times in the years ahead at the sight of much-loved familiar faces.

In May of 2007, Cristina’s right eye was diagnosed with a very rare and serious infection called Acanthamoeba Keratitis. She underwent intense treatment for three months straight, and although the infection was gone, she was left legally blind. It was very difficult for her to adjust from being a normal 25-year-old to a disabled woman with low self esteem because she felt ashamed, embarrassed, and ugly.

In December of 2008 though, Cristina received the chance to see again by having a very successful cornea transplant. She is now able to see 20/30 – better than she had been able to see before! She no longer even needs glasses, something she had worn her entire life. Cristina feels very blessed to have received the gift of sight again and says a special prayer for her donor and her donor’s family every day. Words simply cannot express her appreciation and respect for this wonderful gift.

Cassidy was barely five when she received her cornea, but it had already been more than a year since she began to complain that everything looked “scribbly.” With the scribbly vision came problems with depth perception and maintaining balance.

An ulcer was boring a hole into Cassidy’s eye and taking her sight. As the ulcer festered, the hole grew and scarred over. Without intervention, Cassidy’s eye would go completely blind.

On a February morning in Spokane, Cassidy received the gift that put her young life back on keel. Immediately upon waking up from cornea transplant surgery, she told her parents that everything wasn’t scribbly any more. In the months that followed, her vision continued to improve. “I can see so much better!” she told her parents over and over, but they never failed to be thrilled at the words.

“We will never know the donor or the donor family, but they have given us the most beautiful gift,” says Cassidy’s mother, Dawn. “They have given us the ability to look forward to the future.”