Fred Hollows was a man of conviction. He was determined to end avoidable blindness and vision impairment – and so are we.
Fred was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1929, and grew up in Palmerston North. He initially trained to become a minister, but after taking a summer holiday job at a mental health facility he began to think differently.
Fred was skilled in science and was offered a place to study medicine. After graduating he began assisting eye doctors and became so interested in their work that he moved to the United Kingdom to specialise in ophthalmology.
While still in Dunedin, Fred became an active member of the New Zealand Alpine Club and climbed several peaks in the Mount Aspiring/Tititea region of Central Otago. In 1951 he met New Zealand climber and Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary in a chance encounter, while Sir Ed was backpacking up the Tasman Glacier in an Everest test run. The resulting friendship paved the way for Sir Ed to support Fred’s efforts to end avoidable blindness and vision impairment, particularly in Nepal, and he later became a patron of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ.
In 1965, Fred moved to Australia and became Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of New South Wales.
Three years later, Fred treated two elderly Indigenous Australians from Wattie Creek in the Northern Territory, who then invited him to visit their camp. He was shocked by the poor state of health — especially eye health — and found it hard to comprehend how people could be living in these conditions in a developed country. Especially concerning was the large number of people suffering from trachoma, a blinding disease rarely found in the developed world.
When Fred visited Bourke (a township 800 km from Sydney) he found the same conditions and became inspired to fight for improved access to eye health and better living conditions for those who needed them most.
In the early 1970’s Fred met Gabi when she was training as an orthoptist. Not long after, they worked together on the National Trachoma and Eye Health Programme and visited more than 465 outback Indigenous communities. The project sparked the start of their relationship and an enduring partnership to create change for Indigenous Australians and those in low and middle-income countries.
Fred was the proud father of Tanya, Ben, Cam, Emma, Anna-Louise, Ruth and Rosa.
In 1985, Fred visited Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh on behalf of the World Health Organization. Two years later he visited Eritrea. Visiting these countries had a profound effect on Fred, prompting him to search for ways to reduce the cost of eye care and treatment in low and middle-income countries.
He identified the need for local factories to produce affordable intraocular lenses for use in cataract surgery. Knowing this would significantly cut the cost of restoring sight, Fred founded factories in Nepal and Eritrea, empowering local communities to make affordable and accessible lenses for much less than if made in Australia or New Zealand.
These factories have now produced millions of lenses and are an enduring reminder of Fred’s impact.
Despite being diagnosed with cancer, Fred was determined to keep working for change. With only a few months to live he discharged himself from hospital to travel to Vietnam, to train over 300 Vietnamese eye specialists in modern surgery techniques.
Around the same time, Fred and Gabi set up The Fred Hollows Foundation, along with some friends, to guarantee his work would carry on.
Fred died on 10 February 1993 and was given a state funeral. He was buried in Bourke, at his request, where he had a strong connection with the people and the land.
The vision of this extraordinary Kiwi lives on through The Fred Hollows Foundation. The Foundation now works in more than 25 countries and has restored sight to over three million people worldwide. We have achieved this with the overwhelming support of our donors.
Globally, 9 out of 10 people who are blind don’t need to be, and while we’ve achieved so much, we still have a long way to go. Like Fred, we’re determined to keep working for change. Fred wouldn’t have stopped until he’d ended avoidable blindness and vision impairment – and neither will we.
The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ works in the Pacific, alongside Pacific partners. We continue to support the training of eye doctors and nurses, raise money for essential equipment and medical facilities, and work with our Pacific partners to perform eye surgeries just like the ones Fred performed over 30 years ago.
We’re restoring sight and transforming lives. After a patient’s eyesight is saved, they can return to school or work and provide for their families. Fred believed that good eye care was everyone’s right, and it’s with his ethos in mind that we won’t hold back until we end avoidable blindness and vision impairment in the Pacific.
We strongly believe that one day soon this will be achieved.
The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ is a registered charitable organisation under the Charities Act 2005.
Charities Commission registration number is CC23722.
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