A Dalcross Adventist Hospital (NSW) eye surgeon who has restored the sight of many people was recognised in the Australia Day Honours List.
Associate Professor Geoffrey Painter was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medicine in the field of ophthalmology, and to international relations, particularly to eye health in Asia and the Pacific.
Prof Painter’s international humanitarian work has seen him undertake 30 trips to Solomon Islands, China and the Philippines over 20 years, including five trips with Open Heart International.
“Many people in the Solomons have been blind from cataracts for 10 years simply because they haven’t had the facilities, the doctors or the money,” he told the Hornsby Advocate.
“They are led in by the hand one day and walk out on their own the next. To see that is the ultimate joy in my work and it’s a privilege to be part of it.”
