Traveling photo exhibit on display at TRH

A traveling exhibit of photographs taken by people whose sight was restored through cornea transplants will be on display through April 21 at Three Rivers Health.

The 2024-25 Circle of Light Photo Project started in May 2024 and goes through September 2025, with stops at local libraries and hospitals in Colorado and Wyoming as well as the Denver International Airport. 

The exhibit features 18 pieces from 12 people who received corneal transplants. In it, cornea transplant recipients show the beauty of the world they can now see by participating in this important project, which is open to the public.

Casper’s Bill Fehringer, who received his cornea transplant in 2002, is excited to be featured in the exhibit. When reflecting on his cornea transplant, Bill Fehringer said, “Today my sight is still very good, and I owe it all to early detection and the blessing of a generous donor.”  

Eye tissue donation provides the gift of sight to those needing a transplant. In 2023, 2,544 eye donors across Colorado and Wyoming provided sight-restoring transplants for 2,336 people. Eye tissue is first placed locally, then domestically with other eye banks in need, and finally, internationally. 

“We exist to restore hope where hope may have been lost,” said John Lohmeier, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank (RMLEB). 

RMLEB is the nonprofit organization responsible for recovering donated eye tissues from donors in Colorado and most of Wyoming.