Keratoconus quickly stole Shannon’s eyesight while she was in college. She was diagnosed in May and was legally blind by November, when she received her first transplant. The other cornea was transplanted a year later in 1995. Unfortunately, both of those corneas began to fail after nearly 20 years. She couldn’t drive, she needed special software to allow her to use her computer at work, and was missing out seeing her 4 boys grow up and be kids.

Shannon received new transplants in 2013 and 2014. Shannon’s photo in the exhibit was taken at the end of a long day in the mountains with her family. “I feel like I lost a few years of my life. I was on the sidelines but not anymore.”