Corneas taken from woman aged 103

A transplant replaces the damaged cornea with a donor's healthy tissue

Health bosses on Teesside have praised the family of a 103-year-old woman, who they say has now become the UK's oldest organ donor.

Edith Cox, from Redcar, died in Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital on 11 May.

But her family took the decision to allow the great-great grandmother's corneas to be donated.

Since then, doctors have successfully transplanted both corneas, allowing two people to have their sight restored.

Eye retrieval co-ordinator at the James Cook, Craig Rabbetts, said: "I would personally like to thank Edith's family for making that decision on the basis it was what she would have wanted.

We were very pleased to hear that both corneas had been transplanted successfully Mrs Cox's family

"Hopefully this also highlights the message that you can never be too old to become a donor and I hope this will encourage older people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register."

The operation, which takes about an hour, involves replacing a patient's diseased or damaged cornea with healthy tissue donated by someone after their death.

Edith's daughters, Mabel Davies and Joyce Welsh, said in a statement: "It was a surprise that mam was able to donate anything due to her age and deteriorating eye sight.

"But after a short discussion it was soon decided this was what mam would have wanted. We were also very pleased to hear that both corneas had been transplanted successfully."

The James Cook University Hospital was designated an eye retrieval centre in 2005.

The cornea is the clear tissue at the front of the eye that lets in light and helps focus it on the retina so that we can see.

Disease or injury can make the cornea cloudy or distorted in shape, causing loss of vision.