Patients

Remote South African Villages

When I worked in South Africa, every few months there would be what was called a Blind Tour, organised by the Lions and Rotary Clubs. We would go to very remote, isolated communities and meet at the local hospitals, which would  have terrible facilities simply because they couldn’t afford the latest equipment.

Entire surgeries were set up in trucks were driven in, and we would also help to teach the local surgeons. It was the only time the villagers would have access to first world surgery.

Nurses would arrange for people with poor vision to be operated on. The most common surgery we performed was cataract surgery – people wouldn’t even realise that there was something that could be done about their sight.

One common problem we found was grandparents with such poor eyesight, they’d be led around by small children in the villages. So, as you can imagine, we not only changed the lives of the older generation who regained their sight, we also allowed the children to get back to school and receive an education. Needless to say, it was an immensely rewarding experience.

New lease on life

I had a patient when I first started at Harvey Bay who was 76 years old. He had cataracts and said to me that, at his age, he thought he had little to look forward to. However, after I performed cataract surgery on him, he wrote me a beautiful letter headed ‘Congratulations, Welcome and Thank You!’ 

Melanoma Patient

One of my patients came to me with a melanoma on his iris. I diagnosed the melanoma and excised it. At the time, the patient was fearful with the diagnosis which was made, and overjoyed when the tumour was removed completely.

It was a life changing experience for him – he re-evaluated his life, changed his attitude in business and spent more time with his family. He retired early and tells me each year how grateful he is for each year he spends with his family.