A new children’s book written by Head of the Lions Eye Donation Service Dr Heather Machin is aiming to break down the barriers for eye donation.

Launched during Children’s Book Week, Grandad’s Last Wish is the story of Kevin and his Grandad who love to sail paper boats together. Through Kevin’s eyes, the reader learns that Grandad is not well, and that his last wish is to become an eye donor when he dies. Kevin learns how Grandad’s donation will restore the sight of people waiting for a transplant, as well as helping doctors train, and scientists develop new treatments.

“I was inspired to write Grandad’s Last Wish because of my experience working as both an eye nurse in operating theatres and as the Head of the eye bank here in Melbourne,” Dr Machin says.

“There are around 13 million people worldwide waiting for a corneal transplant, and they are relying on the willingness of people in our community to become donors, as well as the willingness of the donor’s family to authorise the donation after they die.”

The Lions Eye Donation Service is a joint venture between the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and CERA. It provides sight-saving tissue for over 500 corneal transplants and 300 scleral transplants every year. It also provides tissue that is crucial for training new surgeons and conducting research towards new treatments for many sight-threatening conditions.

LEDS’ work is reliant on people and their families consenting to eye donation, and characters in the book are designed to challenge the status quo of who eye donors typically are.

“Research in Australia indicates that men, younger people, and those of non-white backgrounds are less likely to donate tissue at the end of their life,” says Dr Machin.

“I wanted to create a story that helped demonstrate, particularly to young men, that donation was something very rewarding they can do as both the donor or the family member authorising the donation for their loved one.

“I also wanted to show that anyone can donate to anyone by showing the difference between Grandad, an elderly white man, and the transplant patient, a young black female.”

Dr Machin hopes the story will resonate with people who are thinking about becoming donors, and their family as well.

“I hope this inspires people to consider becoming an eye donor and really consider the impact of what that gift can achieve.”

Grandad’s Last Wish is now available from Amazon.

A portion of each sale will be donated to the Lions Eye Donation Service, which is part of the Centre for Eye Research Australia supported by the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.