Cornea transplant recipient calls eye donation ‘enormous gift’

Head was among recipients, donor families and medical professionals who shared their experiences at a special service at Gloucester Cathedral.

Iain Dobie’s wife Alison died unexpectedly from sepsis in 2022 and had volunteered to donate.

“My wife gave her eyes so that someone might see,” said Dobie. “It feels some compensation during a time of mourning.

“We got a letter some time after she died that explained how a 68-year-old man had received one of her eyes and the other had gone to medical research into eye diseases and treatments.

“It gave, even at that most agonising time, some solace.”

Dobie wants to encourage families to consent to donation.

“There’s a long waiting list for eye transplants, more than other organs and tissues,” he said.

“I know they’re meant to be the windows to the soul and people don’t like to think of their eyes being lost, but what I would say is bizarrely, eyes, because they’re so personal, they’re the greatest gift they could give.”