A Caring Life by Keith Cox

Author:Keith Cox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2022-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

FRED HOLLOWS (1929–1993)

Famous eye surgeon Fred Hollows had been diagnosed with renal cancer in the late ’80s and already had a kidney removed, but his prognosis had looked pretty good. After being diagnosed, he said: ‘Why should I be spared cancer when so many other people have it?’

But by the early 1990s, Fred had relapsed and his cancer metastasised, so he came to see us at RPA. Derek Raghavan was then the urogenital oncologist at RPA and asked me to get involved in his care. Fred came in every three weeks or so for chemotherapy and radiotherapy, so I saw him fairly regularly and got to know both him and his delightful wife, Gabi, very well. While we didn’t encourage children in the ward, the couple had twin girls, toddlers still in a stroller at the time, so I was able to meet them too when Gabi dropped Fred off for treatment.

Fred was already very well known by then, and I could tell he really wanted to make a difference in the world, which is another reason why we got on so well. We had the same passion to help people, and while his passion was eye surgery and his legacy lives on, mine is cancer care and, hopefully, my legacy will live on too. When we first met, I had to go through his chemotherapy treatment with him to tell him what was involved and what side effects there were. When we talked about general things, he always had a good sense of humour, and never once complained about his predicament. He was one of the loveliest patients – and people – I have ever come into contact with. In the end, he was accepting of his own impending death, saying: ‘I don’t think dying’s such a terrible business . . . I’ve had a fair suck of the pomegranate.’

During those visits, he was always very chatty and told me about his projects around the world. He had been on TV often to talk about the work he was doing in Nepal, conducting cataract surgery on everyone from children to the elderly through a very simple operation that enabled them to see again. He had already raised millions in funding and also persuaded other Australian doctors to become involved by training local eye doctors in Nepal. According to Fred, what he saw as a simple operation made a massive difference to the lives of those who were fortunate enough to undergo it. While I was still learning and gaining knowledge about cancer care, I saw Fred as an inspiration to learn more and do more for less fortunate people.

While Fred eventually set in motion the training of local surgeons, he sadly never got to see the Eritrean and Nepalese lens factories that have gone on to produce millions of cost-effective intraocular lenses for cataract surgeries in more than 70 countries.

Professor Fred Hollows died at his home in Randwick, aged 63, on 10 February 1993.

Learning of Fred’s ‘eye-opening’ work from the man himself would later lead me to my own Nepalese adventure.

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