Fred Hollows was a kind doctor.
He helped people see better. He fixed many eyes. He helped people in far away places. He worked very hard to help. Do you want to help people too?
Fred Hollows was a kind doctor.
He studied how to fix eyes. He wanted to help people see.
He traveled to many far lands. He visited many small towns. He looked at many people's eyes.
He helped many people get better. He even helped people get new lenses. This helped them see the world.
He started a group to keep helping. This group helps people in many countries. They help people who are poor.
People remember him for his good work. An asteroid in space even has his name!
Fred Hollows was a famous eye doctor.
He was born in New Zealand. Later, he moved to Australia. He studied ophthalmology, which is the study of eyes. He wanted to help people see again.
Fred spent much time helping Indigenous Australians. He saw that many people had eye problems. One problem was trachoma. This is a disease that affects the eyes. Fred visited over 460 communities. He checked 62,000 people. He helped 27,000 people get treated for trachoma. He also did 1,000 operations.
Fred also worked in other countries. He went to Nepal, Eritrea, and Vietnam. He wanted to make eye care cheap. He helped set up labs to make lenses. These lenses cost about 10 Australian dollars. This helped poor people get care.
He started The Fred Hollows Foundation. This group helps people get eye care in many places. Fred was named Australian of the Year in 1990. Even an asteroid in space has his name!
Farnham House was the home where Fred lived.
Fred Hollows was a famous doctor who helped people see. He was an ophthalmologist, which is a doctor who specializes in eyes.
Fred was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1929. He grew up in a working-class family. His father worked as a driver and a fireman. Fred loved the outdoors and liked climbing mountains. One time, he even offered to carry a heavy pack for the famous explorer Edmund Hillary.
Fred spent much of his life helping people with eye diseases. He noticed that many Indigenous Australians suffered from eye problems. One specific disease he focused on was called trachoma. Trachoma is an eye disease that was not found in other developed parts of the world. Fred wanted to make sure everyone could get the care they needed. He helped set up the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, Sydney, in 1971. He also organized a big program to fight trachoma across Australia.
Fred worked very hard to visit people in far-away places. He spent three years traveling to many different Aboriginal communities. During these trips, he visited more than 460 communities. He examined 62,000 people to check their eye health. Because of his work, 27,000 people were treated for trachoma. He also performed 1,000 operations to help people see better.
His mission eventually reached many other countries around the world. Fred traveled to places like Nepal, Eritrea, and Vietnam. He wanted to find a way to make eye surgery much cheaper. He helped set up special laboratories to make eye lenses. These lenses cost only about 10 Australian dollars each. This allowed poor people to afford the help they needed. In 1992, he started The Fred Hollows Foundation to keep this work going.
Many people around the world honor the work Fred did. He was named Australian of the Year in 1990. He also received many other awards for his medical service. Even space has a way of remembering him. In 1998, an asteroid was named 12113 Hollows after him. In Australia, a ferry and even a coin have his name on them. Fred died in Sydney in 1993, but his foundation still helps people today.
Fred Hollows was a dedicated ophthalmologist who spent his life restoring sight to people in need. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who specializes in eye health and surgery. He became a global figure through his work with Indigenous Australians and his international humanitarian efforts. Through The Fred Hollows Foundation, his mission continues to provide eye care to the underprivileged.
Hollows focused heavily on treating trachoma, a serious eye disease. In the developed world, this disease is rare, but it was prevalent in many Indigenous Australian communities. To fight this, he organized the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program between 1976 and 1978. This program was funded by the Federal Government to improve eye health in remote areas. He spent three years traveling to provide direct care and conduct surveys. During this time, he visited more than 460 Aboriginal communities. He examined 62,000 people, which led to 27,000 being treated for trachoma and 1,000 successful operations.
His medical work also expanded into international training programs. In 1985, he visited Nepal, and in 1987, he traveled to Eritrea. By 1991, he had also worked in Vietnam. His goal was to train local technicians to perform eye surgery themselves. This helped create a sustainable system of care in developing countries. To make treatment affordable, he organized laboratories to manufacture intraocular lenses. These are lenses placed inside the eye during surgery. In Eritrea and Nepal, these laboratories produced lenses for about A$10 each. This low cost made life-changing surgery accessible to the poor.
Fred Hollows was born on April 9, 1929, in Dunedin, New Zealand. He was the fourth son of Joseph Hollows and Clarice Marshall. His father had worked as a railway fireman and later a driver. During his youth, Hollows was an active member of the New Zealand Alpine Club. He was known for his physical strength and kindness. In 1951, he famously offered to carry a 70 lb (32 kg) pack for the explorer Edmund Hillary. After studying at Victoria University of Wellington, he enrolled at Otago Medical School. He later moved to England to study at Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1961.
Hollows moved to Australia in 1965 and became an associate professor at the University of New South Wales. He chaired the ophthalmology division for many years, overseeing teaching at several hospitals. He was deeply involved in social and political causes. He was a member of the Communist Party of New Zealand during the 1950s and 1960s. He also helped establish the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, Sydney, in 1971. He was a vocal advocate for better living conditions for Indigenous Australians. In 1989, he officially adopted Australian citizenship.
His life was marked by many significant honors and awards. In 1990, he was named Australian of the Year. He also received the Human Rights Medal that same year. In 1991, he was named Humanist of the Year and appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia. He was even named the first honorary citizen of Eritrea. Even the scientific community honored him when an asteroid, 12113 Hollows, was named after him in 1998. In Australia, his legacy is seen on a $1 coin and on a Sydney ferry named the Fred Hollows.
Fred Hollows died in Sydney on February 10, 1993. He was 63 years old, just 57 days short of his 64th birthday. The cause of his death was metastatic renal cancer, which had affected his lungs and brain. He had been living with this diagnosis since 1987. Despite his illness, he continued his advocacy until the end. He was given a state funeral at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. Following his wishes, he was buried in Bourke, a place where he had worked extensively in the 1970s.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (1)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.