Dr Ruit awarded honorary Order of Australia
Nepalese surgeon, Dr Sanduk Ruit, long-term friend and colleague of Fred Hollows, has been appointed an honoraryOfficer of the Order of Australia (AO).
Dr Ruit recently visited Australia to mark the 15th year of The Fred Hollows Foundation and to discuss future expansion plans for sight-saving programs in Nepal and around the world.
He has been a partner of The Fred Hollows Foundation since its inception in 1992.
In one of many interviews Fred gave during the final years of his battle with cancer he highlighted the high regard in which he held Dr Ruit.
“If I've done nothing in my life but encourage Ruit, I'll have died a happy man,” he said.
Since Fred’s death, Dr Ruit has worked tirelessly to end avoidable blindness in developing countries, personally performing approximately 70,000 sight-restoring operations.
“We are truly proud to work alongside the remarkable Dr Ruit, a man who has done more than anyone else to make Fred’s vision a reality,” said Brian Doolan, The Foundation’s CEO.
When Fred died in 1993, The Foundation continued its partnership with Dr Ruit, establishing the Tilganga Eye Centre in Kathmandu, incorporating the Fred Hollows Intraocular Lens (IOL) Laboratory, which produces the high-quality lenses necessary for modern cataract surgery.
Today, Dr Ruit and The Foundation continue to work together, training local doctors from countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and North Korea to perform modern cataract surgery, and carrying out thousands of sight-saving operations each year.
“There is no doubt Fred would be lifting a congratulatory glass of whisky for his great mate, Dr Ruit,” said Mr Doolan.
“However, both Fred and Dr Ruit would also see this as a time to draw attention to the work ahead,” Mr Doolan said.
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