Eversight Illinois Vision Spring 2017 SpringVision_IL_19Apr17_FNL | Page 6

Donor mom and recipient
connect through the
healing power of donation
and transplantation
“Katie saw beauty in all its imperfect forms
through those beautiful eyes of hers. To know
that her corneas are helping you see the
world more clearly has brought me much
joy over the years.”
Nov. 7, 2016 was a day September Vaudrey anticipated for
more than eight years. She was finally going to meet the person
who received the gift of sight from her daughter, Katie.
Katie passed away unexpectedly in 2008, and though she was
only 19 years old, she experienced more joy, love and laughter
than most people get in a lifetime. She was an accomplished
artist who aspired to become a professional painter. Beyond
her artistic endeavors, Katie dreamed of being a wife and
mother one day.
“The week before her passing, she said, ‘Mom, I want to have
six children,’” September said. “This completely reflects Katie’s
highest priorities in life: family and people. She was all about
loving people.”
This love for others had inspired her to join the donor registry
several years earlier. Katie’s decision allowed her to touch the
lives of eight people through eye, organ and tissue donation,
including two cornea recipients in Illinois.
When September learned of this outcome, she jumped at the
chance to participate in the Eversight Illinois correspondence
program and wrote Katie’s recipients a heartfelt letter.
Spring 2017 | V I S I O N | Page 6
Evelin Vazquez
feared for her
sight because
of a progressive
eye disease,
but a cornea
transplant
allowed her
to follow her
dreams.
The letter made its way to Evelin Vazquez, who had always
wondered about the person to whom she owed her renewed
sight. In her reply Evelin wrote:
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about
my donor and give thanks. Now
I know I can say THANK YOU KATIE.”