Gift of sight from a dying mother

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34046, 9 January 1976, Page 9

Gift of sight from a dying mother

W Z Press Assn—Copyright) PHILADELPHIA, January 8.

When Lillian Meskey found out last year she was dying, she decided to give her daughter, who was losing her sight, , a wonderful gift. And her daughter 'had the courage to accept. Mrs Eileen Billington, Mrs) Meskey’s 25-year-old daugh-j ter. had oeen losing her vi-i sion for the last five years, to kereatoconus, an eye disease which deforms the cornea and severely blurs; images Dr Stanley Boland. Mrs! Billington's opthamologist. knew that the only way to! stop the eye deterioration' was through a risky cornea!, transplant. Mrs Billington, of Scran-; ton. Pennsylvania, did not; have to go searching for aj donor — net mother, criti- i cally ill from cancer, volun-! teered Doctors say Eileen isi luckv — eenetic donors for eye transplant operations! are very rare Mrs Billington said late: last summer she and her 47-, vear-old mother, who also! ’led in Scranton had a; frank discussion We discussed the transplant openly ” Mrs Billing-: ton said from her bed at] Wills Eye Hospital “I had! many second thoughts about it mostly because if it didn t work. I would have lost vis:, n I did have To me that, was a big risk I have a 3*-j year-old daughter and that s a hie -esponsibilitv But I decided I had an 80 per cent chance to wind up,

la better wife, a better person and do something my mother really wanted to do. Mrs Meskey died last Saturday. Soon after. Dr Boland removed her eyes at the community medical centre in East Scranton The eyes, placed in refrigeration, were sent to the Delaware Valley eye bank at Wills Eye. examined carefully, and declared suitable for transplant Mrs Billington was admit- ■ ted to Wills Eye Hospital on 'Sunday morning and thei successful operation on her I left eye was performed. Dr Peter Laibson, who I performed the surgery, said the chances are excellent that her eyesight will im-

prove, especially because the donor was her mother. “Genetic donors are rare,” Dr Laibson said. “But when you have a genetic donor, it lessens the chance of tissue rejection. She could have improved vision within two months. I can’t say exactly how much it will improve. It varies from case to case.” Before the operation, Mrs Billington had to wear double contact lenses in each eye and even then her vision was a blurry 20-50. 20-60, Dr Laibson said. ! The surgery was performed only on one eye, he said, because doctors never i do two eyes at one time. He said Mrs Meskey’s other eye would be used for another patient. :