HUNSTVILLE, Alabama –
Megan Clarke was born blind in both eyes, a rare condition doctors say was caused by a low dose of radiation from an X-ray her mother received before she knew she was pregnant.
“All Megan ever wanted from the time she could talk was to be able to see like the other kids, watch Dora The Explorer like the other kids, and look at the clouds and see shapes like the other kids,” said Megan’s mother, Marsha Clarke. “We thought for sure that Megan would be blind her entire life.”
Doctors say, though, that a generous donation of eyes from Megan’s pet chicken, Mrs. Cluckers, was able to help save the day.
“Mrs. Cluckers was a chicken that we got for Megan when she was 2,” said Marsha. “She never went anywhere with Mrs. Cluckers. It was cute, but slightly annoying. Chickens aren’t very clean animals. At any rate, Mrs. Cluckers had perfect 20/20 vision, so doctors swapped her eyes with Megan’s eyes.”
“Poor Mrs. Cluckers is now blind in both eyes, but Megan can see perfectly,” said surgeon Dr. Charles DeMar. “We had originally planned on just killing Mrs. Cluckers to use her eyes, but Megan said she’d rather stay blind than have Mrs. Cluckers be dead. So, we did what we thought was right, and we swapped their eyes.”
The operation reportedly took over 15 hours, but when it was completed, Megan had full vision in both eyes.
“It’s was a remarkable success,” said Marsha Clarke. “Sadly, Mrs. Cluckers will never be the same again. She wanders around now, just running into everything, and she looks creepy as hell with human eyes, but you know, Megan can see, and that’s all that matters.”