Writer Willie Morris' Corneas Donated

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
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For photos (of Dr. McCaa performing Longino's transplant surgery, Morris, Epperson or Longino), or to have text e-mailed, contact: Leslie R. Myers at (601) 984-1104 or at [email protected]

Nationally renowned writer Willie Morris' corneas donated
Posthumous gift of corneas restores sight to two people

JACKSON, Miss. -- Willie Morris was immortalized for his intellect, sweetness and generosity in eulogies and obituaries nationwide. Now, the posthumous donation of the writer's corneas has restored sight to two transplant recipients.

The transplants were performed by Dr. Connie S. McCaa at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson following Morris' Aug. 2 death.

"Willie Morris set an example for all of us in his life of sharing and giving to others. It seems only natural now that the donation of Willie's corneas should, by example, encourage people to donate their eyes and corneas so that others might see," said Mike Flynt, Director of Donor Services for Mississippi Lions Eye & Tissue Bank in Jackson, a member of the Eye Bank Association of America.

"Dr. McCaa probably does more cornea transplants than all the other surgeons in Mississippi combined," Flynt said. Thirty-two other surgeons in the state perform such transplants. "The majority of cornea transplants also are performed at UMC," he added. At the forefront of her field, McCaa is a UMC professor of ophthalmology and biochemistry and director of UMC's corneal and refractive surgery services.

Morris' family originally donated the Jackson writer's corneas anonymously. They now agree to release his identity as a donor to raise awareness of the dire, nationwide need for cornea and eye donations.

"Willie's son, David Rae (Morris), and I never intended to make this public," said JoAnne Prichard of Jackson, Morris' wife. "But when permission was requested, we decided to release the information in hopes that more people would donate their eyes.

"We thought Willie would have really wanted to do this."

To aid the cause, Morris' two cornea recipients, John Epperson Sr. of Hazlehurst, Miss., and Ozie Longino of Monticello, Miss., also agreed to make their transplants public.

"Both patients' transplants are looking fine," McCaa said. Both patients had been legally blind in their treated eye, with 20/400 vision or worse not correctable with eyeglasses.

"The cornea will clear up in about 24 hours," McCaa said at the close of Longino's Aug. 7 surgery on his left eye. "It will be up to three months before he'll see at the cornea's maximum. But it will be only about two or three weeks before he sees considerably better than he did."

By the end of August, Longino's vision had improved to 20/70 and Epperson's had improved to 20/80.

Nobody could be happier than the transplant recipients about Morris' legacy of generosity.

Epperson, whose namesake son has starred in multiple one-man shows off-Broadway in New York, knew all about Morris' literary legacy before the cornea transplant to his right eye. But Epperson had no idea whose cornea he had received.

"That's a surprise," Epperson, 74, said after hearing about Morris' donation, a few days after his Aug. 5 surgery. "That was nice of Willie to do that. Hopefully, I'll see real well. It's good enough now -- I can see out of it. Before, it was like looking through a big fog."

Longino, 42, who is a forklift operator for Wal-Mart, recognized Morris' name. "Oh, yes. Thanks!" he said of receiving Morris' cornea. "I want to write that down, since I have a famous cornea. I'm going to take real good care of my eye for him." A few days after surgery, Longino said his vision is "improving constantly, a little every day ... and I'm reading up on Willie Morris."

Morris is known for mentoring countless writers, both personally and as the youngest-ever editor-in-chief of Harper's magazine in New York in the 1960s. Epperson has been saying that he that he hopes his new tie to Morris inspires him to write a book. Hearing that, Longino said, "maybe I'll write one, too."

Morris is credited as a major influence in changing postwar literary and journalistic history. His acclaimed books include North Toward Home, Good Old Boy, New York Days and My Dog Skip, which is set to be released in January as a movie starring Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane and the dog from TV's Frazier.

Donated corneas may be transplanted into either eye; corneas have no left/right orientation, McCaa explained. The "window" of the eye, the cornea covers the front of the eye to transmit and focus light into the eye. "When the cornea is scarred or damaged, it can look to the patient just like a dirty windshield," she said.

She said Epperson's cornea problem was the most common cause for cornea transplants: an edema of the cornea (pseudophakic bullous keratopathy). Longino's vision was obscured by scarring from a severe Pseudomonas ulcer on his cornea, caused by an eye infection.

In addition to being a leading cornea transplant surgeon, McCaa was one of the first physicians in the nation to perform LASIK laser eye surgery. She is now in the first wave of physicians nationwide performing Intacs cornea ring implant surgery, which was approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in April. McCaa as a fellow studied cornea and refractive surgery with world-renowned surgeons Dr. Herbert Kaufman and Dr. Marguerite McDonald. McCaa is listed as one of the Best Doctors in America, which is a $2 million, two-year peer survey of practicing U.S. physicians.

"Cornea transplants are the most successful type of organ transplants, by far, which should encourage people to donate them," McCaa said.

Flynt of the Eye Bank pointed out that even people with poor vision often have healthy corneas that may be donated. Eyes and corneas are donated after death and their removal doesn't affect the body's appearance for funerals -- which often is the concern of survivors, he said. To donate your corneas or eyes, "the most important thing you can do is to tell your loved ones," he stressed. Survivors must sign a donor release. For more information, telephone the Eye Bank Association of America at (202) 775-4999 or visit their Web site at www.restoresight.org.

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