A Superhero Gives the Gift of Sight

When 21-year-old Emelia Mijangos learned that her cornea donor was a 6-year-old boy, she lit a candle in his memory at her church and prayed for him and his family. Bryce Autry from Bozeman, MT, had become her hero. His family's decision to donate Bryce's corneas meant that Emelia could see clearly again – and well enough to take her first steps towards independence. For the first time, she was able to obtain a driver's license and consider enrolling in college to become a preschool teacher, options that had been out of reach until her transplant. “[The transplant] changed my life,” she said. The Autry family's generosity made the difference for Emelia between a lifetime of dependence on others and a future bursting with potential.

Emelia jumped at the chance to meet her donor family in December, when they gathered at Seattle Children's Hospital along with Emelia's surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Diamant, an ophthalmologist at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center. Together, they decorated Bryce’s floragraph -- a portrait made of organic materials such as coffee grounds and seeds -- that would be featured along with floragraphs of 80 other donors on the DonateLife float in the 2014 Rose Parade.

She was particularly excited to meet Bryce’s family. She brought a necklace with a heart pendant to present to Bryce’s mother, Aria, and the two women cried as they hugged one another. For Aria, the decision to donate was straightforward. "It wasn't a pause or a wait," she said. "It was, 'We're up for it.' We knew how many lives could be impacted and helped." In fact, Bryce also helped five other people who were awaiting life-saving transplants.

Bryce's donation transformed more than just Emelia's life, however. It reached all the way to a small town just outside Mexico City where Emelia's grandmother resides. "Before I had my transplant, my grandmother knew nothing of eye donation. She didn't even know it was possible," Emelia said. "Once she found out I was going to meet my donor family, she was on the phone with me every week asking when it was going to happen!" Her grandmother became a donation advocate, sharing with all who would listen the story of Emelia's gift of sight and the boy who made it all possible.

Watch the news story from local NBC affliate KING 5.