The Hankee family, of Heidelberg Township, donated the corneas of their late daughter, Krysta, which restored the vision of two people.
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From left, Pennsylvania state Sen. Lisa Boscola joins Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank CEO Richard Rader and marketing director Dianne Margle and survivors of donors Mary Schuster and Bill and Chris Hankee during an event Friday at the bank's Jacksonville Road office in Hanover Township, Northampton County, to promote National Eye Donor Month.
She was only 22.
But when she collapsed while working out in September 2007 and never recovered, that question was posed to them.
“I remembered that in the state of Pennsylvania, you can put it on your driver’s license,” said Bill Hankee, of Heidelberg Township. “Thank God, she had made that decision for us.”
Krysta Hankee’s organ donation saved the lives of five people, and the donation of her corneas restored vision for two more.
It’s the cornea donation to which the Hankee family was drawing special attention Friday. March is National Eye Donor Month, and the family participated in an event at the Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Eye Bank in Hanover Township, Northampton County, to raise awareness for it.
Unlike organ donation — which only 1 percent of people who die qualify for — just about anyone can be an eye donor, eye bank officials said. Corneas can be collected up to 24 hours following death and those that don’t meet transplant specifications are used for research.
“Your eye donation would never go to waste,” said Amanda Schuetrumpf, spokeswoman for the eye bank on Jacksonville Road.
More often than not though — about 75 percent of the time — the corneas the bank collects are able to be transplanted, said Chris Sica, the eye bank’s laboratory manager. Cornea donors don’t have to match the blood types to their recipients, and nearsightedness and even cataract surgery are generally not disqualifications, Sica said.
Eye bank public educator Nina Fehnel personally knows the benefit of cornea donation. She had both of her corneas replaced after she was diagnosed with keratoconus, a type of corneal degeneration.
“It’s the difference between night and day,” she said. “I couldn’t see the big ‘E’ on the eye chart — the one everyone can see.”
Because of the high percentage of people who qualify for cornea donation, there isn’t a recipient waiting list, but eye bank officials said it’s still important to raise awareness of the need.
Bill Hankee said though a large majority of people say they support organ donation, only about one-third are officially signed up to be organ donors. Committing to organ donation makes it an easier decision for families should that situation arise for one of their loved ones and also gives people in need of organ transplants more hope, Hankee said.
The Hankee family has experienced both sides of organ donation. Chris Hankee’s sister died last year after many months of being on a waiting list for a liver transplant.
The family still sees a great upside in organ donation, and when Chris Hankee’ father, Robert Schuster, died last year, the family donated his corneas. His wife, Mary, who lives in Northampton, joined in Friday’s event.
“Organ donation is part of our mission,” said Chris Hankee, who together with her husband founded the Krysta Hankee Memorial Fund. “It gives us peace that people are being helped even after our daughter’s death.”