Eye Care Patient Stories

Patient stories about eye care

March 15, 2016

Cornea Donation Saves Rogers Man’s Vision

Kelly Gardner

UAMS Jim Harris Sunali Goyal

March 10, 2016 | Organ donation is an incredibly personal and tremendously impactful act of kindness, but Jim Harris already knows that on a profound level. “Without the generosity of a donor, I would have lost sight in my eye,” said the 53-year-old Rogers resident. “I am grateful my donor was thoughtful enough to make…


March 10, 2016

Cornea Donation Saves Rogers Man’s Vision

ChaseYavondaC

UAMS Jim Harris Sunali Goyal

March 10, 2016 | Organ donation is an incredibly personal and tremendously impactful act of kindness, but Jim Harris already knows that on a profound level. “Without the generosity of a donor, I would have lost sight in my eye,” said the 53-year-old Rogers resident. “I am grateful my donor was thoughtful enough to make…


January 14, 2016

Cornea Transplant Clears Blurry, Clouded World for Patient

ChaseYavondaC

David Warner Robbie Smith UAMS

Jan. 14, 2016 | Every morning, Robbie Smith, 37, gets a vivid reminder of how debilitating his eyesight used to be. Before he inserts a pair of special corrective contact lenses, “I’m only able to see a few inches from my face,” he said. At age 10, Smith, of Little Rock, was diagnosed with keratoconus,…


November 24, 2015

Corneal Transplant Lets Hensley Woman Read Again

ChaseYavondaC

Nov. 24, 2015 | Jamie Whitaker, of Hensley, knew her eyesight was diminishing. As someone who loved to read, Whitaker could tell she was having more difficulty making out the words. It reached the point where she had trouble reading road signs and distinguishing whether an oncoming vehicle was a truck or car. Still, she…


August 3, 2015

Eye Patient Sees UAMS as Best Choice

Kelly Gardner

When he was 3 years old, Clyde Snider was shot with a BB gun and lost all vision in his right eye.


Eye for the Art of Living

Kelly Gardner

“E-V-O-T-Z-2,” said 14-year-old Ryan Longood, reading from an eye chart, during a post-operation check-up with John David Pemberton, D.O., an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). “Good, very good,” said Pemberton, who is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, specializing in plastic surgery of…


Advanced Lens Gives Patients with Astigmatism New Look on Life

Kelly Gardner

“For as long as I can remember, I was terribly nearsighted. I was the kindergarten student with the heavy, thick glasses falling off my nose. I was 10 years old when I got my first pair of contact lenses, but I couldn’t sleep in them. At Girl Scout Camp, I put my glasses in the…


January 11, 2015

Riding into Clear Vision

Kelly Gardner

Before treatment at the UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Carolyn Hopkins’ vision was so poor that she needed assistance doing ordinary tasks that most people take for granted. While she was comfortable in her home in Pine Bluff, she needed her husband’s assistance in the grocery store to find her way around the…


January 8, 2015

Comprehensive Eye Care Under One Roof

Kelly Gardner

When Peggy Hundley first started having eye problems in the late 1980s, she turned to the UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute. After multiple tests, she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a vascular condition that can affect many organs, including the eyes. Hundley was puzzled by the diagnosis and began an extensive search to learn…


January 6, 2015

Sight Changing, Life Changing

Kelly Gardner

Palmalee Byrd was the little boy that all the other children made fun of on the playground. When he went to school for the first time, he couldn’t keep up because he was unable to see to read the board. He returned to school the next year with very thick glasses and was teased every…



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