s our regular Attaché readers are aware, I frequently use this column to explain how a particular part of our operation helps make our business work for you. Of all the key dimensions of our business, however, one stands apart as the most important: our employees, and their dedication to both this company and to you, our customers.

This month, I want to share with you the remarkable story of one of our employees, Charlotte-based flight attendant Donna Pugh, whose faith, perseverance, and support from her family enabled her to find a way to beat unimaginable odds.

Donna first joined US Airways in May 1984. More important than her 20-year tenure with the company, however, is the story of the eight years when she wasn’t flying with us.

Donna has a genetic condition called keratoconus, which involves distortion of the cornea, the dome-shaped “window” covering the front of the eye. All people with this condition have some level of impaired vision. However, in many cases it can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, and in more serious cases with corneal transplants. Even though Donna tried all options up to and including transplants, her vision continued to deteriorate, and she lost her sight completely in December 1994.

“I felt like my wings were clipped,” Donna recalls. “I just couldn’t imagine going to work in an office and sitting at a desk. My home became my prison—I didn’t even want to talk on the phone to friends, much less go out to dinner where I might run into people I knew.”

For eight years, Donna struggled to come to terms with her loss of vision, undergoing six major surgeries—all of them failed attempts to correct her eyesight. Then, one morning in February 2003, her daughter Evie saw a news story about an ophthalmologist who had developed a contact lens that could restore sight to patients with damaged or distorted corneas.

“She called me right that very minute,” Donna remembers. “After all that I had already been through, I was reluctant, but Evie pointed out that she never asks anything of me and insisted that I pursue this. Looking back, I still can’t believe what happened.”

Donna called the Boston Foundation for Sight later that day, and the receptionist informed her that if the doctor thought she was a candidate, he would call. He did, 15 minutes later.

“I walked him through my medical history, and he said he was 80 percent sure he could restore my vision. My family and I, both nervous and delighted, flew from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Boston the next morning, and I was in his office at 10 a.m.”

On Tuesday of the following week, Donna was fitted with the contact lenses and was immediately able to see. “And then on Friday, I was on TV talking to Oprah. I went from being completely blind to having 20/20 vision and being on “Oprah!” all in one week. It makes me laugh out loud when I think of it.”

One of the first things Donna did that very week was to contact US Airways to see if she could get back to flying. By March, she was in training—a special, one-student training session was developed for her—to get back up to speed on what she had missed. “We had started flying Airbuses, and I’d never even been on one. They seemed so strange and foreign to me,” Donna says. “There were all these new acronyms and procedures to learn—I couldn’t believe how much had changed, but I could not have been more excited about returning to flying.”

Donna completed her training (making perfect grades, no less) and flew her first trip in early April. “I’m so thankful to be doing this again,” Donna says. “I lived in the dark for so long, and any time the pilots call me up to the cockpit, I look out the windows and marvel at the beauty of the views that I had missed for years.”

In May 2004, Donna’s supervisor presented her with a US Airways 20-year diamond recognition pin. “Even after all those years away, the company still was willing to give me my pin.... I said I was thankful but that it wasn’t necessary, but my supervisor wouldn’t hear of it, and today I proudly wear it,” Donna said. “I feel like I have my life back, and I couldn’t be more tickled.”

We at US Airways are just as pleased that Donna is back in the cabin, applying her skills and dedication to ensure your safety and comfort. Donna mostly flies as a lead flight attend-ant—meaning that she heads the cabin crew and oversees the inflight operation. “I get to fly a lot of Caribbean routes, which are the most fun because everyone is so happy to be going on vacation. After eight years of wanting to be alone, I just can’t get enough of meeting new people!”

So keep your eyes peeled for Donna on your next trip, because I know she’s looking out for you.