On April 30, 2024, Sight Savers America proudly unveiled this year’s Hero For Sight Artwork and honored the 2024 Hall W. Thompson Hero For Sight Award recipient at a luncheon held at The Club in Birmingham.
This art piece along with a plaque honoring the Hall W. Thompson Hero For Sight will be installed in UAB Callahan Eye Hospital in the comping months. UAB Callahan Eye has generously provided space for the Sight Savers America Hero For Sight Tribute Wall since 2014. Each year, during a special award ceremony, a new honoree and artist are chosen to be featured on the wall. Located on the hospital's first floor, the Tribute Wall serves as a meaningful recognition of individuals who have made exceptional contributions to promoting eye health and vision care.
Sight Savers America has been dedicated to supporting children's vision care through various programs since 1997. These initiatives provide comprehensive eye care services, facilitate access to eye clinics and low vision clinics, and deliver vision aids directly to families in need. All these services are offered free of charge to qualifying families, ensuring that financial constraints do not hinder children from receiving essential eye care.
As a partner in Sight Savers America's mission, UAB Callahan Eye takes immense pride in contributing to the cause of enhancing vision health access for children. Together, we strive to make a positive impact on the lives of young individuals by improving their eye health and promoting a brighter future through better vision care.
2024 Hall W. Thompson Hero For Sight Award Recipient
Martin S. Cogen, MD
Professor, UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Dr. Cogen treats pediatric patients for all types of ophthalmologic conditions including refractive errors (i.e., myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism), as well as numerous medical and surgical diseases affecting children’s vision such as amblyopia, strabismus, dacryostenosis, retinopathy of prematurity, infections, injuries, and ocular tumors.
Dr. Cogen also actively participates in charitable outreach programs with Sight Savers America in underserved regions of Alabama. He sees pediatric patients who have already failed an eye exam, signaling they may have a vision issue. He is then able to make a diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Dr. Cogen has been a member of the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences since 1989 and is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.
Dr. Cogen received his medical degree from the UAB School of Medicine. He completed his internship in the Department of Medicine at UAB, and his residency with the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. He completed a fellowship in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus with Zane Pollard, M.D., at the James Hall Eye Center at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. He is a native of Philadelphia, Penn., and received his bachelor of science from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Dr. Cogen has published numerous articles on new treatments for strabismus, and he participated in the multicenter Amblyopia Treatment Study, which sought to determine the optimum therapeutic strategy for dealing with this common disorder which causes visual loss in up to five percent of children.
www.uab.edu/medicine/ophthalmology/
2024 Hero For Sight Artist
Krista Webb
Krista lives in Texas with her husband of 15 years and 2 children, who are 9 and 11. They enjoy traveling and camping, especially in the great Pacific Northwest.
Krista has Usher syndrome, type 2. Usher syndrome is the number one genetic cause of combined deaf-blindness. She is 36 years old and has been wearing hearing aids since the age of 2. She became legally blind at age 31 and hung up her driving keys for good. She then enrolled in Orientation and Mobility and started building a good relationship with her white cane, which she has named Freedom.
Interestingly enough, Krista discovered wood burning art (pyrography) at age 32. Since then, she’s been hooked and hasn’t stopped creating pieces for people all over the US. She burns custom art on cork hats, cutting boards, keychains, coasters, wall art, wind spinners, and the list goes on. Wood burning is not a quick process, which is why she enjoys it so much. It truly is her therapy.
Krista uses Instagram to connect with other deaf-blind people all over the world. She loves creating art and educating people how blindness is a spectrum.
Having less than 5° of central vision does have its challenges. Yet, as long as she has just a tiny bit of vision left, Krista plans to keep wood burning as long as possible. Her mantra is to always live in the moment.