2011 STAR Award Family Group Winner: Madison & Malia Nichols

In a partnership with the Kalamazoo Gazette, we are pleased to feature their STAR Award winner stories. To view the original of this article, please click here to be taken to the Kalamazoo Gazette’s website.

By Rebecca Roe | Kalamazoo Gazette

SCOTTS — Life has had its fair share of challenges for 12-year-old twins Madison and Malia Nichols.

The girls were born blind due to congenital glaucoma and both received cornea transplants when they were a few months old. Madison needed multiple transplants in the same eye to keep her eyesight.

Despite their difficulties, the twins realized a long time ago they could use their story to help people and inspire and educate the public about eye, organ and tissue donation. Last year, the girls volunteered 500 hours with the Michigan Eye-Bank.

“I do it so that we can help people,” Madison said. “We go in front of crowds and do speeches and sign our book.”
She said her favorite part of volunteering is getting people to sign up for a donor list.
At the age of 9, the girls wrote and illustrated “The Blind Porcupine,” which tells the story of their cornea transplant operations from their perspective and promotes organ donation. The book has 6,000 copies in circulation around the state.

Malia said she and her sister have been volunteering for two years and she looks forward to volunteering in the future because she wants to help change peoples’ lives.
In recognition of their work, Madison and Malia have earned a STAR Award in the category of Family Volunteer Group. The girls were nominated by Lisa Langley, executive director of Michigan Eye-Bank.

“I would have to say that Madison and Malia are willing to give of themselves repeatedly because they value their vision,” Langley said.

When the girls get up on a stage or in front of an audience they open up, Langley said. They love to read, write, draw and illustrate.
Langley is grateful for all the twins and their parents have given to the Michigan Eye-Bank.
“They have done more for this organization than probably all of our 500 volunteers combined,” she said. “They never say no, and we’ve asked them on multiple occasions to go to events or speak, and they’ve even done things on their own without us asking. They’re an incredible family to know.”

Any time anyone is willing to share their story about how the gift of sight has made a difference in their life, it leads to the opportunity for someone else to perhaps get that same gift, Langley said.
“In other words, every time they speak about the transplants that they’ve received, it encourages people to think about perhaps joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry,” she said.

Madison and Malia volunteer predominantly with the Michigan Eye-Bank, acting as ambassadors, giving speeches and even holding garage sales to raise money for the organization. But they also have volunteered on behalf of a number of Lions clubs around the state, as well. They also attend group meetings, conventions and conferences for medical examiners and other groups that could help to promote the gift of sight.

Although the sisters’ cornea transplants have enabled them to see, they still face challenges to maintain their sight.
Every week they travel to the Kellogg Eye Center in Ann Arbor for checkups and to relieve any pressure build-up in their eyes. When major problems with their vision occur, the girls travel to North Carolina for extensive care.
Madison has undergone numerous cornea transplants and continues to fight vision loss.
Heather Nichols, the twin’s mother, is very proud of her daughters.

“I think they’re amazing for everything they’ve been through — and then to move on and try to help other people,” she said.

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