Fred in Bourke

Fred Hollows first visited Bourke, a northern NSW country town in Australia in the early 1970s, as the Chair of the Division of Ophthalmology at the University of New South Wales, Prince of Wales/Prince Henry Teaching Hospitals.

His eye team held their first clinic at the showgrounds, later relocating regular weekend clinics to Bourke District Hospital. They were welcomed in true Bourke spirit and provided services to other communities in the district, including Brewarrina, Cobar, Enngonia, Walgett, and Wilcannia. These vital screening and surgical services are continued today by the Eye Team from the Department of Ophthalmology at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney.

Pretty much everyone in the district knew Fred and had a story about him to tell anyone who would listen. Whether it be about how he treated their eyes, how he swore at them, cajoled them, joked or shared a yarn with them. Fred Hollows always left a lasting impression.

Fred had a very special relationship with Bourke. He spent a lot of time there and made many good and lifelong friends as a result. Gabi and the family treasure these friendships and the deep ties they share with the local community.

Fred Hollows was 63 when he died on 10 February 1993.

On 17 February 1993, after an official state funeral at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, and in accordance with his own wishes, Fred Hollows was laid to rest in Bourke, where the red dirt and mulgas signal the start of the outback, which he loved so much.

Family and friends gathered in Bourke to farewell Fred. After first visiting the Aboriginal Medical Service, Fred's procession then travelled through town to ‘Kinchela', a nearby property just outside of Bourke, where everyone shared their memories and stories at a wake hosted by locals Malcolm and Jan Fraser and Ian and Merle Fraser. A moving service was conducted Fred's graveside in Bourke Cemetery by renowned Opthalmologist and Sacred Heart priest, Father Frank Flynn, and Jesuit priest Father Frank Brennan at Bourke Cemetery.

Fred was buried with his glasses, a bottle of whisky, letters from some of his children, sawdust from his workshop, his pipe and a tin of tobacco. His coffin was draped with a pall which was lovingly hand painted by the people of Enngonia.

Fred's grave site is surrounded by beautiful native trees and encircled by boulders from nearby Mt Oxley which are laid out in the shape of an eye, and are part of a sculpture which includes the carved standing stone transported from Wilcannia.

Local Indigenous artists, international sculptors and Bourke residents carved the sandstone memorial at the western end of the site and produced the 64 “eye” perimeter boulders which symbolise Fred’s age when he died. One of Australia’s best known sculptors, Laurence Beck, in close association with many Bourke residents placed the rocks in the sculptural position. A beautiful plaque was erected, which reads: ‘Fred Hollows, Eye Doctor. The key he used to undo locks was vision for the poor', with text taken from a poem by Bruce Walker.

In February 2006, the original gravestone was replaced with a new granite sculpture, commissioned by the Hollows' family, created by Austrian sculptor Andreas Buisman and erected with the generous support of friends, the Bourke Shire Council and local community.

On 17 February in 2006, on the 13th anniversary of Fred's burial, Gabi Hollows joined more than 150 family, friends and locals at a dedication ceremony at Fred's graveside in Bourke Cemetery to unveil a new monument to Fred.

The sculpture is a fitting tribute to Fred, capturing the many aspects of his personality, particularly his love of nature, the outdoors and climbing. The Hollows' family invite visitors to touch and feel the rock, to climb on it or sit peacefully and contemplate life.

For them, the polished surface of this new installation is reminiscent of the surface of those small medical marvels, pieces of clinical grade perspex called intraocular lenses. IOLs replace the natural damaged lens of the eye and restore sight to those living with cataract blindness. Factories in Eritrea and Nepal, named after Fred, manufacture these lenses to a quality and cost equal to those produced by their international and commercial equivalents.

A smoking ceremony by members of the indigenous community and a re-dedication by Father Brennan, with speeches from Gabi and family and friends were a fitting tribute to Fred, with the new sculpture bringing new life to Fred's final resting place.

> Read about the ceremony in our newsletter  (427kb).

> Read the transcript from the unveiling ceremony  (31kb).