This book first appeared in 1991, claiming it 'replenishes the sense of what is possible'. It still does. This edition shows what is possible being done daily, problems encountered and overcome, breakthroughs big and small, the spread of the work across the globe, how more and more people are getting modern eye care... and how The Foundation bearing Fred Hollows' name is setting up an ever accelerating attack on blindness the like of which has never been seen before.
The book's heart is the same: the life, work and ideas of Fred Hollows.
Fred was no saint, didn't pretend to be. He was as rough a diamond as they come. Tom Keneally called him 'the wild colonial boy of Australian surgery'.
'Every eye is an eye' as Fred put it, and there's somewhere between 25 to 40 million blind in the Third World, half that preventable cataract work. Daunting, but no excuse for inaction or failure. He knew what tools were needed. Look, talk, listen, think. Urgent problem, time available unknown.
Now this lean but sturdy foundation is growing and many more vital trained people are available and the number of operations a day, a year, is climbing.
'The patient, whoever, wherever, he or she may be, will see the doctor'. Today, a lot of patients are seeing the doctor, and many more will tomorrow.
'A story to lift the spirits... it is possible to change the world.' - Judith Wright, Sun Herald.
'...an all-action drama' - Kirsty Cameron, Australian
'In parts this is a shocking book' - Peter Wilmoth, Age
For information about The Fred Hollows Foundation visit www.hollows.org