Special evensong service celebrates the gift of sight through cornea transplantation

Justin talked about how his sight has now been restored by cornea transplantation at a special evensong service at Gloucester Cathedral for families to celebrate World Sight Day.

“I will be forever grateful to those two separate families donating those organs which helped to save my sight”, said Justin.

He was joined at the service - organised by Gloucestershire’s Organ and Tissue Donation Committee - with families who had either received corneas or donated them.

“My message for World Sight Day is that if you donate organs to help people like me keep my sight you are literally giving me my life back”, said Justin.

“My life as it is now is due to the unselfishness of those two separate families donating the organs. It’s quite extraordinary when you are facing losing your sight. You start to look at your life and there’s absolutely nothing you can imagine that’s unaffected.”

Justin Hunter’s ophthalmic consultant at Cheltenham General Hospital, Paul Tomlins, commented:

“As a corneal surgeon, I never forget - even in the middle of an operation - the preciousness, delicateness and extraordinary generosity behind every donated cornea”.

Iain Dobie’s wife, Alison - herself a former nurse - died suddenly four years ago, and before she died she asked that her eyes could be used to help others.

He was at the service with his daughter, Imogen, and said:

“Alison had given her eyes so that others might see. It was typical of her unselfishness and her generosity to those she did not know personally but nevertheless wanted to help.”

In Gloucestershire, between March 2025 and April this year, 78 families agreed to donate their loved one’s eyes after they died. This led to 156 corneas being used in sight saving transplants.