Dubbo residents donated more than $56,000 to the Fred Hollows Foundation to assist with 929,106 eye operations and treatments in third-world countries, in the 2018 financial year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Fred Hollows Foundation trained 59,207 eye surgeons, nurses, community health workers and teachers to continue Fred's legacy of restoring sight for the world's poorest people.
One patient Dubbo helped to restore the eyesight of through surgery is eight-year-old Samuel from rural Kenya.
Samuel and twin brother John have been inseparable since birth, but there is one thing that always separated them - Samuel's eye condition.
Samuel had relied on his twin brother, John, to be his eyes his entire life until the surgery.
John led Samuel by hand as they walked to school each day, and sat next to him in class to write class notes so Samuel wouldn't fall behind in his education.
John would pick Samuel up when he fell over and would pull him away from the fire when he got too close.
Gabi Hollows, Founding Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation, thanks the Dubbo community for its support and encourages people to continue supporting the foundation.
"There are still 36 million people in the world who are blind and four out of five of them don't need to be - their blindness is preventable or treatable," Ms Hollows said.
"I would like to thank each and every person who has helped us change the lives of millions of people."