Donors are our Community Heroes

You can give the gift of sight It's your choice.

arrow-icon-down How Does It Work?

How Does It Work

Become a donor or allow
a deceased loved one’s corneas to be donated

The cornea

The cornea is the clear outer layer at the front of the eye & when removed causes no obvious change to the face.

Quick Procedure

It is a 10 minute procedure to remove the corneas. An open casket funeral is still possible after a cornea transplant.

Transplant

It is transplanted into someone with damaged corneas & their sight is restored.

Time

Removal of corneas needs to be done within 12 hours of death & causes no visible change to the deceased's face.

Cornea Transplant

About Us

What is the KZN Eye Bank?

The KZN Eye Bank is a non-profit section 21 company which undertakes to procure, medically evaluate and distribute corneal and scleral tissue which has been donated by caring individuals for use in cornea transplantation and scleral grafting.

The KZN Eye Bank has been registered through the South African Department of Health since 2003 and is open for audit at any time by the inspector of anatomy. Its function and operation is based upon internationally approved and locally recommended best practise standards.

Donor tissue is requested and utilised by medical doctors and opthalmologists registered by the HPCSA, within both the private and provincial hospital sectors.

The KZN Eye Bank does not utilise donated tissue for research purposes.

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Useful Information

For Cornea Donors and Recipients

Donors & Donor Families

Who needs a cornea transplant?

Adults, children & even babies need transplants for a variety of reasons. A transplant may be necessary because of cornea failure hereditary, ageing or corneal disease. Should the cornea become cloudy from disease, injury or any other cause, vision will become dramatically reduced and sight can be lost.
A corneal transplant is a delicate, micro-surgical procedure that replaces a disc segment of an injured or diseased cornea with a similarly shaped piece of healthy donor cornea.
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Cornea Recipients

Where does the cornea come from?

There is no substitute for corneal tissue, so corneal transplants rely solely on corneal donation. Corneal tissue is obtained through an Eye Bank. The Eye Bank is a registered non-profit organisation, authorised by the Dept. of Health to obtain and distribute eye tissue to ophthalmologists for transplant purposes.
Donor corneas are recovered from the deceased, following family consent within 12 hours of death. The Eye Bank screens the donors for transmittable infections such as HIV and hepatitis.
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Hints & Tips from

Previous Transplant Recipients

Q
"I was taken a bit by surprise when I was called in for my corneal graft! I would suggest that you prepare yourself and your family to be called at any time for hospital admission at short notice. Don't forget to give your ophthalmologist any new contact numbers that you have and keep your cellphone on.”
Pravesh56 years
“Following a corneal graft you will have to administer eye-drops every couple of hours as prescribed by the ophthalmologist. It is useful to set a reminder on your cellphone to help remind you to take them at the correct time intervals.”
Belinda33 years
“The guy next to me in hospital could see well straight away. It took me a laser session to correct my astigmatism a year later before I could see really well out of my graft eye. I guess I would recommend other people to be patient and not be disappointed if things aren't perfect straight away.”
Sifiso49 years
“Be patient with your corneal transplant, it takes time to heal and initially requires nurturing.”
Ashika45 years
“I would recommend you to write a card or note to your donor family and give it to the doctors rooms or Eye Bank as soon as you can. I have a corneal graft myself but have also donated my late mother's corneas when she died and I really appreciated the letters I received from the recipients.”
Chad39 years
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