Dressed in the same shirt she wore burying her husband more than 20 years ago, Gabi Hollows has led a heartfelt tribute to the great ophthalmologist Fred Hollows.
Twenty-three years after his death, and on the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program (NTEHP), Mrs Hollows and around 50 people have gathered at her husband's grave in Bourke on Thursday.
With more than eight million lenses made and millions of surgeries completed to restore eyesight to some of the poorest people in the world, she reflected on Dr Hollows' legacy.
"The saddest thing for Fred is he was buried here before he ever got to hold an intraocular lens up that the labs produced," she said.
"That would have been his triumph."
Handing out a swig of whisky (Dr Hollows' favourite drink) to the group, she toasted to his memory, surrounded by indigenous locals, friends and family.
Fred Hollows' grave is a unique monument at Bourke cemetery, made out of more than eight tonnes of polished granite, shaped and polished to look like an eye lens.
Before he died, he made told his family not to bury him under something that resembled a bed, like most graves.
Under the hot Burke sun, his grave lies next to many local indigenous people he helped treat.
In a moving welcome to country, Bourke local Phillip Sullivan brought out his mother's first pair of glasses that Dr Hollows fitted to her after restoring her eyesight many years ago.
"He saw my mum, he saw a lot of my brothers and sisters, but today we're here to honour our brother," he said.
Fred Hollows CEO Brian Doolan was scathing in speaking about the growing gap between indigenous heath and non-indigenous Australians and called on the government to act bi-partisanly.
"We are the last developed country in the world that still has cases of trachoma," he said.
"Don't you dare back off one inch until we've defeated this horrible disease."
He said the Fred Hollows Foundation is in talks with the government at the moment to improve indigenous eye health.
To mark the 40-year anniversary of the NTEHP, Mrs Hollows along with the 50-strong contingent at Bourke will tour local hospitals and meet indigenous members who worked with and met Fred Hollows.
