THE WORLD OF BONE, 

CORNEA, AND SKIN 

DONATION AND 

TRANSPLANTATION



One LifeÉMany Gifts is a curriculum resource to 
educate senior secondary school students about 
the vital importance of organ and tissue donation 
and transplantation. It brings to life the drama, 
generosity and the life-saving promise of 

donation and transplantation. 



2 You CanÕt Even Imagine the Pain: Burn Patients 
Find New Hope in SunnybrookÕs Trauma Centre

4 Over To YouÉ

 a) Job Profile 

 b) Research and Presentation

 c) Investigation

5 Those Bones, Those Bones, Those Long BonesÉ

 DonÕt Forget the Tissue: The Rubinoff Bone 

 and Tissue Bank at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto

8 Over To YouÉ

 a) Share Interesting Facts 

 b) Letter to the Editor

12 First They Are Blind, and Then They Can SeeÉ

 The Eye Bank of Canada and Joe FlemingÕs Story

14 Over To YouÉ

 a) Research Information for Writing a Speech

 b) Write a Speech

 c) Create Inspirational Posters

19 Cardiovascular Tissue Ð Heart Valves and Pericardium

 



Lots of people have their skin tattooed with various 
sayings and images that have personal meaning. Even 
television series have now been produced dedicated to 
the art of tattooing. Our skin receives a lot of attention in 
terms of lotions, creams, oils, masks, facelifts and other 
treatments. But skin doesnÕt cover our bodies just to 
make us look handsome or pretty. Skin has a job to do: 
it regulates our bodyÕs internal temperature. It maintains 
the balance of water in our bodies, offers protection 
against radiation from the sun, and tries to stand guard 
against trauma and infections.

Our skin is a constant sentinel, a personal sergeant-at-
arms against bacterial intruders; the skin does its best to 
guard against a host of skin diseases. It also provides a 
barrier against trauma, skin abscesses, violent assaults 
and various kinds of burns. That is a big task for an organ 
that is so thin; our skin is just 4 to 5 millimetres thick. What 
our skin lacks in thickness, it gains in size. If we could slip 
out of our skin and lay it like a carpet on the floor, it would 
cover 22 square feet (two square metres). 

If we were to list all the kinds of pain a person can 
experience, probably nothing is more excruciating than a 
burn injury. Burns sear and the skin sizzles. We have all had 
the experience of touching a stove element by accident. We 
pull back our fingers in a nanosecond, recoiling from the 
momentary blistering. Those burns are manageable; within 
a few days, the skin calms down and we continue with our 
lives. Many people are not as fortunate; they experience 
serious scalding from pots of boiling water or from tipped 
frying pans. Electrical injuries are very common, not only 
from home renovation projects but also in situations 
where hydro workers accidentally touch live wires and
get electrical burns. Improperly contained chemicals 
often cause chemical fires. There are also the burns people 
experience when a house or apartment building goes up 
in flames. We can, quite literally, die from the shock of 
third-degree burns.

If you were asked to donate skin, you would probably 
wonder how that would be done and how it could be 
used to help someone else.

People are burned every day; they suffer first-, second- 
and third-degree burns. 

Each category of burn highlights the degree of damage 
done to the skin. A first-degree burn is the least 
problematic assault on the skin; a third-degree burn 
covering a significant part of the body may lead to a 
personÕs death. Even if a burn victim survives, doctors 
usually have to place a patient in a medical coma to allay 
some of the pain. In order to treat a patient, skin grafts 
from a deceased donor (allograft skin) are required. 

Unfortunately, in Canada, much of the allograft skin
used on patients has to be ordered from outside of the 
country. It is not that people would resist donating skin 
tissue after their deaths; very few people know about the 
need. Even among those people who have heard about 
skin donation, many have misconceptions about how it 
is recovered and have a limited understanding of how it 
can help someone in need.

Any person who has died between the ages of 14 and 75 
can be a skin donor. It is critical that a burn victim receive 

You CanÕt Even 
Imagine the Pain: 

Burn Patients Find New Hope in 
SunnybrookÕs Trauma Centre

2



3

donated allograft skin to cover affected areas while he 
or she tries to heal and create a new cover for the body. 
Donated allograft skin also helps a patient avoid infection 
and a loss of fluid while he or she is growing new skin; 
usually, new skin growth appears within two to three 
weeks. While the burn victim is kept under sedation, 
donated allograft skin is laid on the affected areas. No 
skin is taken from a donorÕs face or neck. It is only taken 
from areas that would not affect a familyÕs wish to have 
an open casket funeral. The skin that is used on a patient 
is extremely thin, about the thickness of a sheet of waxed 
paper. Family and friends visiting a deceased person would 
never know their loved one had donated tissue.

If you decide to register your donation wishes with OHIP 
discuss the issue with your family. You could very well save 
one or more lives. Sometimes, the donated allograft skin 
is used on many patients. In severe cases, donor allograft 
skin may be dedicated to just one person in the burn 
centre. You can, literally, save a life.

One patient arrived in Sunnybrook Heath Sciences Centre 
with burns on 70% of his body. During the three months he 
was housed in the burn unit, he had 15 different surgeries, 
followed by an additional four months of in-patient 
rehabilitation. Having struggled for half a year with painful 
treatments, the patient had to undergo two additional 
surgeries, and then dedicated himself to two more years of 
treatment in an outpatient clinic. Today, he has returned to 
a world outside of the hospital, as a husband and father. 
It took superhuman strength of character, together with 
phenomenal physical and emotional stamina, to undergo 
the almost continuous pain of serial surgeries. 

Not surprisingly, doctors become very attached to their 
heroic charges. Dr. Karen Cross, one patientÕs plastic 
surgeon, did not show any pictures of her patientÕs 
progress in a seminar conducted at the Trillium Gift of Life 
Network. Instead, she concluded her lecture with a single 
image, projected against a wall in the agencyÕs boardroom. 
CrossÕs patient was sitting with his family, both hands 
raised in triumph. It was an extremely emotional moment 
for Cross; she had been at her patientÕs side day in, 
day out, for a very long time. Cross stood quietly for a 
moment, looking at the image on the wall. The highly 
trained surgeon blinked back some almost-present tears, 
swallowed once and then reminded everyone in the room, 
ÒWe are at an absolutely critical point in looking after burn 
patients. The Ontario Professional Fire Fighters help us 
enormously, particularly with the costs of the Skin Bank 
itself, but we are always facing a situation where the 
need for skin allografts exceeds the supply available to us.Ó 

There is absolutely no question that Dr. Karen Cross and 
Dr. Manuel Gomez, the team leader of the Skin Bank and 
research associate, dedicate themselves completely to 
the Ross Tilley Burn Centre. There are other burn centres 
in the province, all of them committed to burn injuries. 
You can help them transform hundreds of lives by 
registering to donate, by discussing the burn centresÕ 
work with your family and by spreading the word about 
the need for additional skin donors to everyone you know. 
Few of us have an opportunity to make a radical difference 
in the world. You can. Please do. 


second Degree Burn

partial thickness burn

First Degree Burn

Superficial Burn

third Degree Burn

full thickness burn


Dr. Manuel Gomez

A burn victim with his wife and child



A. JOB PROFILE

All comprehensive burn programs offer exceptional 
patient care and a full range of services Ð including 
reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation. A burn-care team 
includes plastic surgeons, physiotherapists, occupational 
therapists, dietitians, pharmacists, social workers and 
chaplains. Choose one of the professions that appeals to 
you and prepare a short job profile, a description of the 
key responsibilities you would assume as a professional 
involved with a patientÕs recuperation at the Ross Tilley 
Burn Centre or any other facility that provides care for burn 
patients. Share your job profile notes with the class. 

B. RESEARCH AND PRESENTATION

All of the tabloids and the weekly faux news magazines 
are filled with the latest stories of people who are having 
tummy tucks, botox injections, face and eyebrow lifts, 
liposuction and other cosmetic procedures. Not all plastic 
surgeons are involved with the enhancement of peopleÕs 
thighs, chins, breasts, noses and abdomens. Many 
reconstructive surgeons dedicate their lives to helping burn 
victims regain a sense of normalcy. Others assist children 
who have facial deformities, large tumours and misaligned 
jawbones. For people whose quality of life is seriously 
compromised by an assortment of medical problems, 
plastic surgery may offer a form of therapeutic personal 
relief or healing. 

Investigate the non-cosmetic side of plastic surgery. 
Choose one or two procedures that make a significant 
difference to a child or adult who has congenital 
deformities, or acquired medical problems arising from 
bicycle, motorcycle, snowboard and roller blade mishaps, 
or injuries sustained in car accidents and other unexpected 
injuries. Present your findings to the class. 

C. INVESTIGATION

We have all seen documentaries in which firefighters risk 
their own lives to save people who are overcome by smoke 
or unable to find their own way out of a burning building. 

What is not as well known are the number of charities that 
firefighters support, including the ongoing financial well-
being of a critically important burn unit in Ontario, 
the Ross Tilley Burn Centre. 

i) Working with a partner, imagine you are a firefighter 
who has seen the devastating effects of fire on the human 
body. Brainstorm the points you would raise if you were 
making a public appeal to people to consider the need 
for skin donation.

ii) As a research project, contact the Ontario Professional 
Fire Fighters Association (1-905-681-7111 or www.opffa.
org). Find out what they do in addition to their daily 
responsibilities. Ask how you might assist with some 
of their charity work; in Ontario, each student must 
dedicate 40 hours of volunteer time in a community 
setting in order to graduate. You may discover 
a career that interests you; at the very least, you 
will find a venue in which you can complete your 
community service assignment. 

Since there are so many associations in the province, 
a visit to any one of the fire halls will allow you the 
opportunity to explore ways in which students in your 
school can partner with firefighters to get the message 
out about the importance of organ and tissue donation. 

Over to YouÉ

World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
.The Arts Canadian & World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
.Health & Physical Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
4



Those Bones, Those 
Bones, Those Long Bones

DonÕt Forget the Tissue: 

The Rubinoff Bone and Tissue Bank 
at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto

Put your hands on your pelvic bones. Now, touch your Achilles tendon. Next, find 
your femur bones, your deltoid muscles, patella tendon, humerus and ulna. We are 
not finished yet; can you place your hands on your two fibula bones, on your biceps 
and on your gluteus maximus? How are you doing in the first Canadian Find Those 
Bones, Tissues and Muscles challenge? We donÕt usually think about our bones and 
tissues, or havenÕt done since we sang the early childhood song about all of them.

As an elementary school student, you knew that the hip bone was connected to the 
thigh bone and the thigh bone was connected to the leg bone and the leg bone was 
connected to the ankle bone and all 26 of those ankle and foot bones would rather 
that you stood on your feet, and not trip or fall. Otherwise, those bones would get 

Lauren Shavell



sprained or broken. Usually, there is just no fixing those toe and foot bones; 
you have to wait until they heal on their own. PainÐfull.

In total, we have 206 bones in our bodies. Some bones can get medical help; 
orthopaedic surgeons can work on knees and hips, on backbones and collarbones, 
and Ð the perennial favourites among children and teens Ð broken arms and legs. 
If you are young enough, it may seem fun to have a cast on one appendage or 
another, particularly now that hospitals have coloured casts. Even a white cast 
will do; there is more room on it for autographs. 

Broken bones become less and less fun the older you get. Usually, you need crutches 
to support your body if a leg is shattered; you always need physiotherapy after 
breaking an arm or a hip, and healed bones are never quite the same. They are 
particularly prone to arthritis, and they often ache for no apparent reason after 
a broken bone has healed. 

In Ontario, there are three bone and tissue banks Ð Kingston General Hospital Bone 
Bank, National Capital Region Bone Bank in Ottawa, and the Rubinoff Bone and 
Tissue Bank at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Their mission is to provide bones 
and tissues for patients who require a transplant. There are lots of reasons someone 
would need a transplant Ð to relieve pain, restore joint function, prevent amputation, 
treat periodontal disease, reconstruct a personÕs bladder and replace bone and 
tissue that have been destroyed by cancer.

At the Rubinoff Bone and Tissue Bank, all news is good news. If someone chooses 
to donate his or her tissues, up to 75 people can be helped from a single tissue donor. 
With bones, the news is almost as good: more than 40 patients can be helped from 
a single donor. 

It is a rare day that we want to sit down and think about all the things that could go 
wrong with our bodies. We usually have problems enough, without spending any free 
time on possible future catastrophes. Life has a way of making us stop, just when 
we have decided we donÕt want to hear any bad news. Bones and tissues are often 
involved in our unexpected ailments and injuries: we wake up and discover arthritis 
has set in; we fracture a hip in a fall; a doctor discovers a bone cyst in a routine 
medical exam. Bones are crushed in car or industrial accidents; knee ligaments 
are torn from running or playing various sports.

There are also congenital bone disorders, malignant bone tumours and dental 
disorders that require assistance from the Bone and Tissue bank. That is a long list 
of problems; a tiny, dedicated, very hard-working staff headed by Medical Director 
Dr. David Howarth makes sure that all donor bone and tissue is one hundred percent 
safe for transplantation. He would never release any bone or tissue that he would 
not want transplanted into his own body or that of his family. Given that level of 
meticulous checking and cross-checking, it is no surprise that the Rubinoff Centre 



was the first bank in Canada to be recognized and accredited by the American 
Association of Tissue Banks. Established in 1972, the founding surgeon, Dr. Allan 
Gross, developed several surgical procedures using bone grafts to assist surgical 
patients; now, he teaches his pioneering procedures all over the world. 

There is a lot of publicity surrounding organ transplants, particularly in medical 
television series. A patient rolls through the hospital doors on a stretcher, and Ð 
right after the commercial Ð he or she is in the OR, getting a new heart. In real life, 
you are ten times more likely to have a tissue transplant than an organ transplant.

Last year, more than 700 patients across Ontario received donated human bones, 
tendons, cartilage and fascia from the Rubinoff Bone and Tissue Bank. More than 
100 of the operations were undertaken on children. Every year, thousands of bones 
and tissues are distributed across Canada. 

HereÕs the hard part: since 2005, the number of bone and tissue donors has dropped 
dramatically. During the same time frame, the need for donations has escalated 
enormously. The discrepancy between the need for tissue and the number of donors 
continues to widen. It is so serious that more than 90% of needed tissues now come 
from sources outside of Ontario. But hereÕs the good news: you can help to make 
a difference. 

Today, you and a group of your friends can talk about being donors with your 
families, and participate by registering your intention with OHIP. 

There is more good news: the ideal ages for donating bone and tissue are between 
15 and 65. You are in that group! For non-structural tissue, the age criteria extend 
to 75 plus or minus five years. That means both your parents and grandparents 
can register as donors.

Donation probably sounds a little abstract, somewhat removed from your day-to-
day life. Take a peek at some of the successes recorded within the Mount Sinai Bone 
and Tissue Bank. One patient fractured her hip; after an operation that utilized 
proximal femur tissue, the 81-year-old woman has been able to return to her job Ð 
training dogs. A 12- year-old quadriplegic with cerebral palsy and scoliosis can now 
sit upright in her chair, an important change in her quality of life. An 88-year-old 
woman who had to repair a fracture from a previous hip surgery (using humerus 
tissue) can now walk without any discomfort or pain. Both the patient and her 
family are ecstatic with the results. A 42-year-old man who injured his knee at 
work was given a fresh knee allograft and is now well on his way to a full recovery. 
In the last year, patients ranging from the tiniest baby to a 96-year-old adult Ð 
patients recovering from anything from ruptured tendons to major spinal injuries 
Ð have all been helped because of the work of the bone and tissue banks in Ontario.



A. SHARE INTERESTING FACTS

You already know that our skeleton holds us up and keeps 
us together. It also protects our various internal organs, 
including the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen and 
everything else that is housed within our bodies.

Choose a book that describes and discusses the parts 
and the functions of our skeleton and our skeletal muscles. 
In the book How The Incredible Human Body Works, you will 
find four fold-out pages that examine bone structure.

When you have had a chance to read about our bony 
skeleton and our skeletal muscles, make a poster of a 
skeleton to teach elementary school children about bones. 
On your poster, label the bones you think are most

important and include in your poster design ten interesting 
facts about our bones, tissues and muscles. When you 
are finished, compare your poster with others to see if 
they chose the same or different bones and facts. Revise 
your poster and then try it out with an elementary school 
student you know.

B. LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Many patients whose lives are transformed by donated 
bones and tissues send notes to Mount Sinai after their 
surgeries. Read the thank you letter the hospital received 
from bone recipient Bonnie Simonato, and then reread 
what you have learned about bone and tissue banks. 
Working with a partner, write a letter to the 
editor of your local newspaper, explaining why it is so 
important for people to be bone and tissue donors.

Over 

to 

YouÉ


. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
.The Arts Canadian & World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
.Health & Physical Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
8



Lauren Shavell



What an extraordinary journey I have been on since 
I fell on an icy playground while out on yard duty 
at my school where I was the Teacher-Librarian. 
That day my busy life as a wife, mother, educator, 
and volunteer came to an abrupt stop! With that 
one slip on the ice my femur smashed into my tibia 
plateau. During my first surgery my tibia plateu 
was rebuilt using bone shaved from my iliac crest. 
My rebuilt tibia plateau collapsed following six 
months of no weight bearing on that leg. Thus, since 
my first surgery was unsuccessful, I was very 
keen to get a 2nd medical opinion. After seeing four 
other orthopaedic surgeons in southern Ontario, I 
was finally placed on the Bone Transplant List. 
Fortunately, I was only on the list for three 
months. My pager went off one Sunday morning while 
I was in a wheelchair in our church to signal that 
a donor match had been found. Isn't that, indeed, 
a special place for my pager to ring? I received 
a rare bone transplant at Mount SinaiHospital in 
Toronto, to correct my injuries.

Following the bone transplant, I was confined to 
a hospital bed on the second floor of my home for 
more than 30 months believing that my body would 

Dear Staff at the Rubinoff Bone and Tissue Bank:

10



NOT reject my young donor's fresh bone 
and cartilage. I believed that I would walk 
again. In addition, it took me another eight 
months of physiotherapy and water therapy 
to regain my mobility.

 

While confined to bed, I wrote and self-published 
three books. I have retired from teaching and now 
conduct seminars for businesses, schools, service 
clubs, women's groups, and churches. I will be 
grateful forever to that anonymous young woman 
who signed her Donor Card to permit this rare bone 
transplant to proceed. I am also extremely grateful 
to my donor's family for honouring their daughter's 
wish to be an organ donor which allowed me to 
receive this extra-ordinary gift! My young donor's 
dreams were snuffed out so early in life, but my 
dream to walk again came true. Every opportunity 
I get I encourage people to sign their donor card 
and, more importantly, to discuss their wishes 
with their immediate family.

Sincerely,

Bonnie E. Simonato 


11



ÒFor me, the greatest satisfaction in my job 
is to know that we can provide corneas to 
newborn babies with PeterÕs Anomaly, a disease 
that causes blindness in infants. Think about 
it: a baby is born and he or she cannot see its 
mother or father. There is absolutely no medical 
treatment for the condition except a transplant. 
The Eye Bank of Canada steps up, and gives 
corneas for the babyÕs transplantation. One of 
the 21 certified corneal surgeons across Ontario 
undertakes the life-changing procedure and Ð 
immediately Ð the infant can see its parents for 
the very first time. Knowing that I am part of 
that miracle makes my job a total joy.Ó

Linda Sharpen is the Director of The Eye Bank 
of Canada, Ontario Division. First founded by 
the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, 
the University of Toronto and the Canadian 
Ophthalmology Society in 1952, the Bank serves 
the entire province. Anyone who wants to donate 
eyes or any patient who needs a cornea transplant 
works through the Eye Bank. From its central 
location in Toronto, Sharpen distributes more than 
1,500 donated corneas each year. In her experience, 
Sharpen finds that donors do not just come from 
larger city hospitals, but a significant number come 
from small communities in Ontario. Any size of 
hospital can undertake eye recovery; only the 
larger hospitals have the staff and equipment 
to retrieve organs.

Although it is clear that Sharpen is running as fast as 
she can, and driving just as quickly to get the word 
out about The Eye Bank, the waiting list is still very 
long. It can take three years on a waiting list before 
a cornea becomes available. People who could move 
from blindness into a sighted world must wait. For 
adults who are hoping to return to jobs that depend 
on seeing clearly, the waiting seems endless. Those 
who must wait for donated corneas include babies 
and children and patients who have just experienced 
major trauma from an accident. The hands of eye 
surgeons are tied; there are typically only two 
corneas available for transplantation each week.

Last year, the Eye Bank had to cancel 40 elective 
surgeries, transplants that were already booked, 
with patients who had already been notified Ð all 
because there were no donors. Eye tissue can only 
be kept for eight to ten days; after that time, it has to 
be used for research and training because there is no 
capacity to extend its viability and the tissues are 
too delicate to allow for freezing.

Sharpen wants the situation to change. Obviously. 
She wants adolescents to register to donate and to 
speak with their families about their donation wishes 
because it is next of kin who provide final consent for 
a patient to donate. If your loved ones do not know 
that you want to donate, then they may not know 
how to act on your behalf. 

Changing a personÕs life, moving him or her from 
a world of darkness into a universe filled with colour 
and light, is simple. Easy. Fast. The recipient uses 
the gift of vision for an entire lifetime. 

If you are interested in knowing more about the work 
of the Eye Bank of Canada, drop in on their website: 
www.eyebank.utoronto.ca You can also phone the 
Bank at (416) 978-7355 if you are preparing an essay 
or a speech for your school or for people in your 
broader community. Get the word out. Help increase 
the number of donors.

One of CanadaÕs most celebrated artists is a cornea 
transplant recipient.

First They Are Blind, And Then They Can SeeÉ

The Eye Bank Of Canada

12



Joe Fleming

Joe Fleming is a Canadian artist and a professor at the 
Toronto School of Art. When Joe was nine, he was struck 
with a piece of wire, part of a coat hanger that was 
being used as a mobile holder, in his grade school. The 
classroom was out of control. Students were throwing 
things everywhere. The flying wire went to the dead centre 
of FlemingÕs eye. After that, there is very little that Joe 
remembers. He can recall an ambulance, an emergency 
room and a recovery room. Everything else is a blur.

In theory, his operation was designed to restore his sight, 
but very little was accomplished in the initial surgery. His 
right eye compensated for the injured eye; Fleming just 
carried on with his education and his life.

Years later, when Fleming was in his mid-twenties, he had 
a cornea and lens transplant. Joe remembers the second 
procedure a little more vividly. He could feel the different 
layers of the eye Ð the cornea, the lens, the pupil. He 
remembers the doctor laying a tiny, translucent layer on his 
eye. Unlike laser surgery, where improved vision is almost 
immediate, a cornea transplant requires a little more time 
to reveal its success because the brain has to readjust to its 
new circumstance of having two functional eyes.

For many of us, a cornea transplant would be undertaken, 
and we would return to our ordinary lives. For Fleming, 
an artist, a person whose professional life is completely 
dependent on the particular way he sees images, the 
cornea repair had many consequences. Without knowing 
exactly why, Fleming started working on plexiglass. In 
2003 he created a large series of paintings on translucent 
materials. He worked with plexiglas and wood, dropping 
pours of paint over cartoon characters outlined in black. 
Light travelled through the plexiglass and interacted 
with the various layers of the artwork. Now, Fleming 
realizes that there has always been diffusion in his work, 
a blurring. As he reflects on the techniques he employed 
in his Frolic series, Fleming is now convinced that his choice 
of materials is related to his way of seeing. In the past, he 
tried to ignore the impact of his early childhood trauma 
in his work. 


Now, he accepts it: ÒItÕs me. ItÕs the way I see.Ó


13



Take a look at one of Joe FlemingÕs works, miss guided. It is part of his Frolic 
series from an exhibition in Singapore. In his catalogue, he notes the meaning 
of the word frolic and invites the viewer Òto play and move about cheerfully, 
excitedly or energetically.Ó

You have had an opportunity to read about the work of the Eye Bank of 
Canada, and you have also seen the way in which donated corneas can 
transform a personÕs life. Who knows if Joe Fleming could have found a way 
to become an artist if he had been left with sight in only one eye after his 
childhood accident? We are left with speculation in the absence of certain 
knowledge. What we can know is that FlemingÕs paintings are now part of 
the Canadian High Commission and the Australian High Commission 
collections. His work is also featured in the Museum of Civilization and all 
across the world Ð in Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Miami and Toronto. 
Clearly, one donorÕs gift makes a very big difference in the world of art.


miss guided, 2003

acrylic on plexiglas

120 . 120 cm

Over 

to 

YouÉ

14



14



a. RESEARCH INFORMATION 

FOR WRITING A SPEECH

Working with a partner, research the information you need to deliver a speech 
that will convince people to donate their corneas as part of their organ donation 
commitment. Obviously, as part of your fact-finding, you need to read about the 
eyes and how they work. You also need to complete the following four tasks before 
you are fully prepared to craft your speech. In public speaking, having a solid grasp 
of the background information that informs your talk is imperative.

Task A

Start your research here with a brief description of our eyes.

Our eyes are complex organs for detecting and managing light. They work like an 
old-fashioned film camera. Light enters through the cornea Ð a thin, transparent 
sheet of tissue at the front of the eyeball. The cornea slightly bends the incoming 
light as it passes through on its way to a small opening, the pupil.

A healthy cornea is clear, smooth and regular in shape. Not only does the cornea 
allow light to pass into the eye, but it also acts as a lens to help focus light on the 
retina which makes images clear and sharp. The cornea is lubricated by tears and 
covered with a tissue that protects against dust, hairs and other objects that 
could hurt the eye. 

 

Task B

Continue your research by borrowing a book on the human body, one that has 
a well-illustrated chapter on the senses. There will be a four-colour illustration 
of the human eye.

Draw an eye, labelling all the parts.


.The Arts Canadian & World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
.Health & Physical Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
Canadian & World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
Health & Physical Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
.
The Arts 
Canadian & World Studies 
vEnglish 
Guidance & Career Education 
.
Health & Physical Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
.
The Arts 
Canadian & World Studies 
vEnglish 
Guidance & Career Education 
.
Health & Physical Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
.
The Arts 
Canadian & World Studies 
vEnglish 
Guidance & Career Education 
.
Health & Physical Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
Lauren Shavell


15



Write a paragraph outlining the function of the following Ð the optic nerve, the 
optic disk, the eyeball, ciliary body, the iris, the pupil, the lens, the sclera, the 
chloroid, rods and cones, vitreous humour and the retina. 

Although there are many possible dangers to the eye, we rarely think about 
eye problems. If the cornea is damaged, it can become scarred, distorted or 

swollen. Its smoothness and clarity are lost. The damage can lead to a 

distortion of light, causing glare and seriously reduced vision.

The most common reasons for requiring a cornea transplant are accidental injuries, 
a herpes virus infection of the eye, hereditary or congenital clouding, or severe 
bacterial infection. Additionally, as people age, there is often a clouding over and 
loss of transparency in the cornea. The smooth, rounded shape of the cornea 
sometimes changes, preventing light from being accurately focused into the eye. 
If that happens, a transplant is needed. 

A cornea transplant is a surgical procedure in which a healthy cornea, taken from 
a deceased donor, replaces a damaged cornea. Since the cornea usually has no 
blood supply, there is less chance of rejection, so cornea transplants do not 
require tissue matching as is the case with other organs. 

Unlike some transplant procedures, almost all cornea transplants are both safe 
and successful. More than 100 years ago, Dr. Edward Zim restored the sight of 
a man whose corneas had been burned in a chemical accident. The transplant was 
a success, and it allowed the patient to experience good vision for the rest of his 
life. Today, cornea transplantation has over a 90% success rate. 

Task C

Take a few minutes to explore your own world without the capacity to see clearly, 
or at all. For people with damaged corneas, a world of shadows and vague shapes 
is more than a fictional possibility. It is a daily reality. Your other senses have to 
be your eyes; hands can touch, ears can hear, your nose can smell; your tongue can 
provide you with taste tests in the absence of signals from your eyes. Place your arm 
into the crook of your partnerÕs arm and walk blindfolded for 15 minutes in the school 
hall. You will notice how dramatically different the world becomes when you cannot 
see people and objects. The short experiment will give you a small insight into a 
world without vision, and suggest some possibilities for your speech. You could 
remain blind for a day if you need a more complete understanding of a 
sightless world. 

Over to YouÉ

.The Arts Canadian & World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
.Health & Physical Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
16



Task D

Take a look at the eye of a 72-year-old woman with corneal dystrophy. Then, 
examine her eye after a cornea transplant. The two photographs are images of 
the same eye, one before and the other after her operation. Now, there is a whole 
new world for her to inhabit. 

(Information on the cornea has been taken from two texts: Transforming Lives and Human Body: 

A Visual Guide. Complete bibliographic information is included in the annotated bibliography.)

B. WRITE A SPEECH

Working with a partner, write a speech in which you attempt to convince people to 
donate their eyes to the Eye Bank of Canada.

When you are happy with what you have written, try it out on your classmates. As 
they are listening to the argument you and your partner have prepared, ask them 
to decide if they are convinced by your presentation. Based on the information you 
share, would they donate their corneas? 

When you are finished, those listening should enter a number on a ten-point scale: 
a nine or ten rating means that they are completely convinced and would donate if 
the occasion arose; numbers in the 6-8 range suggest that additional information 
may be required; and anything under 5 points to an unsuccessful campaign.


Guidance & Career Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
Guidance & Career Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
Guidance & Career Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
17



C. CREATE INSPIRATIONAL POSTERS

Linda Sharpen, the Director of the Eye Bank of Canada, Ontario Division, travels all 
over the province delivering speeches about the need for cornea donation. In one 
small northern Ontario town, students decided that they would not only try to get 
the word out into the community by speaking with people, but they also decided 
to create posters that could be displayed in the school and in store windows in the 
town. Four of the posters are featured above. Choose the one that speaks to you 
most personally, and then work with a small group of classmates to create additional 
posters. Send your artwork to the Eye Bank of Canada, Ontario Division; you may 
well see your artistic efforts translated into the BankÕs future advocacy campaigns. 

Over to YouÉ


vEnglish 
Guidance & Career Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
vEnglish 
Guidance & Career Education 
Science 
. 
Social Sciences & Humanities
. v 
z 
. 
. 
.The Arts Canadian & World Studies vEnglish Guidance & Career Education 
.Health & Physical Education Science . Social Sciences & Humanities
. 
v 
z 
. 
. 
18



Cardiovascular TissueÐ 
Heart Valves and Pericardium

You have read about people whose lives are saved by receiving a heart transplant, 
but people can also receive life-saving heart valve transplants. 

Your heart has four chambers and each chamber has a valve associated with it. 
Heart valves open and close to allow blood to flow forward in one direction only Ð 
which is key to a healthy, functioning heart. When heart valves close, flaps of tissue 
close tightly together to create an important seal. Unfortunately, the heart valves 
of children and adults can thicken, scar and fail if they suffer from heart disease, 
congenital defects, rheumatic fever, infection or calcium deposits that accumulate 
with aging. The donation of heart valves can be used to replace those valves that 
are diseased or damaged, allowing the heart to resume its normal function. 

People can also donate their pericardium (the protective sac that surrounds the heart), 
which can be used in a variety of surgeries, repairs to defects in the walls of blood 
vessels in children and as a patch in brain surgery.

You may be interested in knowing that most heart valve surgeries occur in children and 
in fact the only cardiovascular tissue bank in Ontario is located in a childrenÕs hospital 
Ð The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. 

So in addition to donating tissues like skin, bone and eyes, you can also donate 
important cardiovascular tissue.



One LifeÉMany Gifts is a curriculum resource to educate senior 
secondary school students about the vital importance of organ and 
tissue donation and transplantation. It brings to life the drama, 
generosity and the life-saving promise of donation and transplantation. 

Funding for this project has been provided by the provincial Ministry 

of Education and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. 

This project would not have been possible without their support or 

the generosity of an anonymous Ontario resident whose contribution 
ensures that students in the province understand the life-saving 
promise of organ and tissue donation and transplantation. 

The Steering Committee sincerely thanks all of our supporters. 

The development of this curriculum has been co-sponsored and 
coordinated by the Trillium Gift of Life Network, the Multi-Organ 
Transplant Program at London Health Sciences Centre and 

The Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Educating secondary school students and their families about the 

need for organ and tissue donation and the success of transplantation 
was originally initiated in the London region in 2000. With funding 
received from The Kidney Foundation of Canada, the Multi-Organ 
Transplant Program at London Health Sciences Centre had the vision 

to develop a unit of study, One LifeÉMany Gifts, working with both 

the Thames Valley District School Board and the London Catholic 
District School Board. The original program was used in Healthy 

Active Living Education, Grade 11, Open (PPL30) in OntarioÕs 
curriculum. The curriculum resource before you builds on the vision 
and foundation provided by this original program and the Steering 
Committee gratefully acknowledges the dedication and pioneering 

effort of all those involved in the original program.

This curriculum is dedicated to the many Ontarians who have given 

the gift of life through the donation of organs and tissue and to the 
many others who will in the future.

For more information on the One LifeÉMany Gifts curriculum program 
please contact the Director of Communications, Trillium Gift of Life 
Network at 1-800-263-2833 or visit: www.onelifemanygifts.ca

© QueenÕs Printer for Ontario, revised 2009. 

Medical health-care professionals from the field of organ and 
tissue donation and transplantation and educational advisors 

were involved in the development and implementation of the 

One LifeÉMany Gifts project. 

Steering Committee:

Frank Markel, President and CEO, 

Trillium Gift of Life Network 

Dr. William Wall, Transplant Surgeon, 

Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre

Jim O'Brien, Executive Director,

The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Ontario Branch

Project Support Team:

Cailey Crawford, Education Project Manager, 
Trillium Gift of Life Network

Cate Abbott, Information & Resources, 

Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre

Mahms Richard-Mohamed, Transplant Donor Coordinator, 

Multi-Organ Transplant Program, London Health Sciences Centre

Wendy Kudeba, Director of Marketing and Communications, 

Pam Logan, Communications Manager,

The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Ontario Branch

Writer:

Linda Rainsberry

Educational Consultant and Program Advisor:

Joan Green

Design: 

Niki Fleming 

Vince Rozas, design assistant and line art illustration

The Steering Committee gratefully acknowledges and thanks the 
many individuals who contributed to the success of this project. 
Donor families, recipients, health-care professionals, educators 
and community members were all very generous with their time and 
expertise. One LifeÉMany Gifts is richer because of their participation.