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Top 10 Interesting Facts about Fred Hollows

Fred Hollows. Photo Sourced from  

Frederick Cossom Hollows was born on 9 April 1929. His parents were joseph and Clarice Hollows.

His birthplace was Dunedin, New Zealand. He grew up in Palmerston North. He was one of a family of four boys.

Hallows had one year of informal primary school at North East valley primary school. At the age of 13, he attended Palmerston North Boy’s High school.

At the victoria university of Wellington, he received his BA degree. He trained to be a clergy at a seminary.

At seminary, he was doing a lot of charity work, and he observed doctors at a mental hospital. This experience was about choosing a career in medicine.

He enrolled at the Otago Medical school. Hollows were also politically active as a member of the Communist Party of New Zealand.

He became known as an ophthalmologist for his work in restoring eyesight for thousands of people in Australia and other countries. More than one million people can see today because of bis initiatives.

The Freds Hollows foundation is continuing with his work. Here are the top 10 Interesting Facts about Frederick Cossom Hollows.

1. He Developed a Love of Mountain Climbing at a Tender Age

Fred was an active member of the New Zealand Alpine club while living in Dunedin. He climbed several peaks in the Mount Aspiring, Tititea region of central Otago.

In 1951, Fred met Sir Edmund Hillary. He is a New Zealand mountain climber and Everest pioneer.

Sir Ed was on a test run for Everest when he met Fred. He was backpacking up the Tasman Glacier carrying a pack that weighed more than 32 kilograms.

Edmund Hillary recalled how they both met; “As I approached the foot of the gully running several hundred feet up to the hut, I was met by a young man who came bounding down to meet me and offered to carry my load up to the hut.

I handed my pack over and saw his legs buckle slightly at the knees. Although I didn’t know it at the time, he was Fred Hollows he started his helpful attitude early in life.

Their friendship grew stronger. It paved the way for Sir Ed to support Fred’s work to end avoidable blindness, particularly in Nepal. Hillary later becomes a patron of The Fred Hollows Foundation.

2. He Met his Two Wives in Different Occasions

Hollows had two wives. His first wife was Mary Skiller. While employed during his holidays as a guide, he met Mary.

He married her in 1958. They were blessed with two children, a daughter and a son. Unluckily, Mary died in 1975.

After the death of his wife in 1975, he married his second wife Gabrielle Berly O’Sullivan. Gabi was training as an orthoptist when she first met Fred. Gabi and Fred got married on 23 August 1980.

They later worked on the National Trachoma and Eye health program. They also visited more than 465 indigenous communities in Australia.

3. Fred Initially Trained to become a Clergy but Later Changed his Career

Fred was raised as a dutiful member of the churches of Christ. He briefly studied at a seminary. His dream was to be clergy. After taking a summer holiday job at a mental health facility he began to think differently.

As a result of his experience with patients and doctors at the hospital. He abandoned his religious beliefs. He instead joined Medical school.

After graduating, he began his career by assisting eye surgeons. He developed his interest in eye surgery and moved to the United Kingdom to specialise in ophthalmology.

4. Fred was an Associate Professor after his Studies

He went to Moorfields Eye Hospital in England to study ophthalmology in 1961. He did post-graduate work in wales.

In 1965, he became an associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He also chaired the ophthalmology division by overseeing the teaching departments at the prince of Wales, University of New South Wales and prince Henry hospitals.

5. He Assisted in Several Projects for Better Access to Eye Health and Living Conditions for Australians

Fred joined the save Gurindji committee in the early 1970s. He became aware of curable eye diseases, particularly trachoma.

These diseases were among Aboriginal people during his to Wattie Creek and New South Wales towns. Fred helped in the establishment of the Aboriginal Medical Service at Redfern, Sydney.

He recognised that poor eye health and blindness are caused by the state of poverty. He was allowed to establish The National Trachoma and Eye Health program.

Fred was associated with the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists. He was appointed as the director.

Fred managed to one hundred and five thousand Aboriginal people. He treated fifteen thousand and performed one thousand operations in Australia.

6. He Established Training Programs to Train Local Technicians to Perform Eye Surgery

Between 1985 to 1991, Fred visited Nepal, Eritrea and Vietnam.On behalf of the World Health Organisation.

Visits to these countries had a profound effect on Fred. He was encouraged to find a way to reduce the cost of eye care and treatment in developing countries.

Fred established training programs to train local technicians to perform eye surgery. He organised intraocular lens laboratories in Eritrea and Nepal.

The companies were to manufacture and provide lenses at cost. Today the factories still produce millions of lenses.

7. He Founded the Fred Hollows Foundation

Fred, his friends and his second wife Gabi set up The Fred Hollows Foundation to guarantee his work would go on. This is an Australian Charitable foundation in Sydney.

The foundation has been registered as a charity organization in the United Kingdom where Fred did his training and in his country of birth, New Zeeland.

8. He Declined The Award of Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia

In 1985, Fred was awarded the honorary officer of the order Australia, Nevertheless, he declined the award. The refuses the award because he was appalled at what he regarded as a blatant lack of interest by the government in Eye care for Aboriginal people.

In 1989, he adopted Australian citizenship and was named Australian in the year 1990. He accepted the award of a companion of the order of Australian in 1991.

9. He Asserted that Gay Men to Share Responsibility with Health Service Providers to Prevent the Spread of HIV/AIDS

Fred gave his opinion at the Alice springs National Aboriginal HIV/Aids conference. He argued that some areas of the AIDS campaign were not fully dealt with.

He started that Homosexually were recklessly spreading the virus. Therefore, the campaigns were an inadequate way of dealing with the issue. He argued promiscuity needed to be addressed.

10. He was Given a State Funeral

Fred died on 10 February 1993 at the age of 63 in Sydney Australia. The cause of his death was renal cancer.

A state funeral was held for his last respect at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. He had requested to be buried in Bourke where he had a strong connection with his people and land.

Fred got things done. He always pushed for change and, because of that, put in motion a legacy to end avoidable blindness. In his time as a humanitarian and eye surgeon, Fred helped restore eyesight to thousands of people in Australia and overseas.