When Teresita de Jesús Perozo de Dávila first noticed her vision declining, she didn’t yet understand how drastically her world was about to change. Within two years, Fuchs' dystrophy clouded her daily life—making simple tasks feel impossible. As the disease progressed, Teresita learned that to restore her vision, she would need a cornea transplant made possible by the generosity of a donor and their family.
“A lot of things looked hazy and white,” Teresita said. “The things that were affected the most in my life were driving and reading.”
For an educator who spent her life surrounded by books, ideas and students, losing her vision felt like losing part of herself.
But even as her vision dimmed, her determination did not.
Teresita sought help everywhere she could—Colombia, Mexico, Brazil—even her home country of Venezuela. Each time, she was met with the same reality: no access to the donated corneal tissue she would need to restore her vision.
In Venezuela, the need for donated corneas far outweighs the supply. Years of political instability and economic hardship have affected healthcare infrastructure, leaving little opportunity for patients like Teresita to receive sight-restoring transplants.
“There's just not enough supply of corneas in Venezuela unfortunately,” said Teresita’s corneal surgeon, Daniel Montenegro, MD. “There are ophthalmologists in Venezuela that have done cornea transplants, but the corneal tissue is a limiting factor, especially DSAEK tissue processed by the eye bank. I don't think you can get that in Venezuela right now.”
Still, Teresita refused to give up hope.
Teresita confided in a friend about her challenges. That friend shared her story with another friend in Venezuela—who happened to be Dr. Montenegro’s aunt. After learning about Teresita, she reached out to her nephew, a cornea specialist working in Miami, Florida. Suddenly, a path appeared.
“Teresita was willing to travel here to do this procedure,” Dr. Montenegro said. “Some people have resources to travel, but most don’t. It’s a minority of patients. But even for people like her that have resources to travel to the U.S., do the surgery and stay for a month after to ensure that the recovery is going well, it’s rare.”
For Teresita, it felt nothing short of divine intervention.
Dr. Montenegro had never operated on someone traveling internationally solely for transplant surgery, but he knew what was at stake.
“Her options were so limited,” he said. “I figured it was worth a shot.”
On November 5, 2025, Dr. Montenegro performed a combined cataract surgery and a DSAEK cornea transplant on Teresita’s right eye using donated corneal tissue provided through Eversight, made possible by the selfless decision of a donor and their family.
Even in those early days, the change was profound.
“Her vision best corrected was 20/100,” Dr. Montenegro said. “Today she’s 20/60 uncorrected. That's a big improvement. She felt she was seeing a lot better—things didn’t look cloudy anymore.”
For Teresita, the world had color again.
“The yellows and the blues look like their real color,” she said. “My other eye looks like everything has a Jello filter over it. In the transplanted eye I see everything really bright.”
Teresita can read the letters on an eye chart more clearly now and will be able to return to the things that matter most to her.
“She's very active in the academic community in Venezuela,” Dr. Montenegro said. “She's a director of a large school in her hometown. She relies enormously on her vision to work. She has a very active lifestyle, and being able to see clearly without this blur from her corneal disease is going to make a huge difference.”
Dr. Montenegro’s favorite cases are cornea transplant patients because their journey is guided by hope and courage.
“It's not a straightforward surgery,” he said. “There are more things involved and the fact that Teresita came from a different country—my own country—to have the surgery done speaks volumes.”
More than anything, Teresita looks forward to reading again—something that will restore a sense of purpose to her life as an educator. And she is already dreaming bigger. After experiencing this journey, she wants to become an advocate for eye, organ and tissue donation in Venezuela.
“I’m going to try to encourage my friends to be donors and raise awareness about the importance of eye, organ and tissue donation because it’s made such a drastic difference in my life,” she said. “I’m very grateful to Eversight for their generosity and I’m very happy with the results.”
When asked what she would say to the family of her donor, Teresita’s voice filled with emotion.
“I'm eternally grateful for the person and the family that donated this corneal tissue,” she said. “I will pray for that person and their family for the rest of my life.”
Teresita calls this experience “a miracle.”
“Her having a friend who knew my aunt, that sort of coincidence that they knew each other and could get us connected feels like a miracle to her,” Dr. Montenegro said. “She sees me as an angel that helped restore her vision.”
None of this would have been possible without access to donated corneal tissue; something still out of reach for many communities around the world.
“It's extremely critical,” Dr. Montenegro said. “Fortunately, the quality of corneal tissue from the eye banks—especially Eversight—is exceptional. I don’t work with any other eye bank. I know Eversight’s got my back.”
This partnership not only restores vision—it restores possibility.
“I’m really grateful for the resources that we’re able to provide,” he said. “This required collaboration with Eversight and Baptist Health Surgery Center. They got in touch with the patients and coordinated the steps for her to have the surgery.”
“The effort was very worth it. You can see it in the patient’s satisfaction and how happy they are after the procedure. That’s the most important thing.”
For Dr. Montenegro, this unique experience shed a light on ways he can help improve access to corneal tissue in countries like Venezuela.
There are countless people like Teresita waiting—hoping—for a chance to see again. People for whom a transplant is not simply a medical procedure, but a lifechanging opportunity.
Some, like Teresita, have the resources to cross borders in search of that chance. Others will never reach it without help.
When you support Eversight, you help provide donor corneal tissue to surgeons in the United States and around the world. You give hope to patients facing circumstances far beyond their control. You honor donors and their families whose generosity transforms lives.
You make miracles—like Teresita’s—a reality.
Please consider making a gift to help restore sight for someone still waiting.
Together, we can ensure that no one is denied the chance to see the world clearly again.