Seven years ago, New York City Council Member Justin Brannan’s vision began to deteriorate very quickly. “Lights on the highway were totally blinding me,” he recalls. After a series of treatments that did not improve his vision, he was referred to Douglas Lazzaro, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair of Ophthalmology at NYU Langone Health and Eye-Bank of New York Medical Advisory Board Member. Dr. Lazzaro diagnosed Councilman Brannan with keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that causes the cornea to thin and become cone-shaped, leading to blurred vision and poor depth perception.
“For patients in advanced stages of keratoconus, a cornea transplant is often the only path to restored sight,” Dr. Lazzaro said. When Councilman Brannan learned that he needed a cornea transplant, he was nervous at first. Learning that he needed a transplant was overwhelming. He had gone from having perfect vision, to needing glasses, to facing blindness in one eye in a few short years. “You take your sight for granted, just like you take breathing for granted,” he said. But he found reassurance in Dr. Lazzaro’s confidence and expertise.
In 2022, thanks to a successful cornea transplant with donor tissue provided by The Eye-Bank of New York, Councilman Brannan’s vision became clear. “There is a great need for donated corneas so more people like him can have restored sight,” Dr. Lazzaro said.
Today, Councilman Brannan rarely relies on glasses and has rediscovered his love of reading before bed. Grateful for the gift of sight, he has become a passionate advocate for organ, eye, and tissue donation, and he has improved access to affordable eye care for New Yorkers through mobile eye exams. “If you can’t see, you can’t work,” he says — a reminder of the value of the gift of sight.
November is Eye Donation Month. Go to EyeDonation.org and sign up today to be an eye, organ and tissue donor.