Donor hopes his story boosts awareness

Nate Blum doesn’t like to let an opportunity to help others pass him by.

So when he found out he was going to need to have his right eye removed due to a congenital condition he decided to donate it for research.

“It seemed like a great opportunity to promote organ and tissue donation,” said Blum, who was diagnosed as an infant with glaucoma.

For information on organ donation, click here.

Blum, who is in his mid-30s, said he really began to struggle with the physical pain of glaucoma when he was 17.

“There was a calcium buildup around the cornea and every time I blinked it felt like I had scratched my eye,” Blum recalled.

Doctors were able to scrape away the calcium buildup at the time and again when he was 25. This past year Blum decided to see if he could have a scleral shell or painted contact lens put over his eye to help provide a smoother surface for his eyelid. Unfortunately, due to the years of intraocular pressure caused by the glaucoma, Blum’s eye was misshapen and therefore not a candidate for the eye shell.

Instead, his doctor recommended he have his eye removed.

“Even though it made sense, that still hit me pretty hard — but that is also when I decided to donate my eye,” said Blum, who is director of outreach in the office of U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry.

After his donation, Blum was curious about the research and on the day he was fitted with his prosthetic eye, he met Michael Punsoni, M.D., an assistant professor of pathology and microbiology at UNMC.

“That was a highlight of my day,” Blum said.

Dr. Punsoni told Blum he appreciated his commitment to create awareness about organ and tissue donation.

“There are more applications for using the tissue – for research, education and diagnostic purposes,” Dr. Punsoni said.

Blum said he’s simply happy to be a vehicle to promote organ and tissue donation.

Blum’s story was recently featured on CBS affiliate WOWT Ch. 6.