Jason Antoine was working as an A/C, electric, and plumbing apprentice in the business of a family friend when an accident took away his vision.

“I accidentally injured my right eye while cutting a wire with a razor blade. The blade lacerated layers of my cornea and sclera. I lost my vision in my right eye because I had lost fluid and needed to have that eye bandaged. Eventually the loss of fluid caused my retina to detach,” said Jason.

After the accident, Jason was not able to work for three months. He had to use only his left eye to operate through his daily life. After Jason underwent two surgeries to fix the fluid loss, his surgeon, Dr. Cohen told him that he was going to have to have a cornea transplant as well.

Jason had his transplant in April of 2021, five months after his initial injury.

Jason is still healing, but he is incredibly appreciative to the donor and their family for choosing donation. He doesn’t have pain anymore in his right eye and he is starting to be able to see figures.

When asking Jason if he had any closing thoughts that he wanted to share, he laughed and said, “Wear safety glasses!” Great advice from an exceptional cornea recipient.

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Are you interested in telling your story? Send an email to James at jrosa@lionseyeinstitute.org.

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