Australian actress Jessica McNamee removes the bandage from the eyes of 86- year-old Pham Thi Thong

Australian actress Jessica McNamee visited the central province of Quang Nam early this week to see first hand the free eye surgery program funded by Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF) at work.

Thong had been blinded by cataracts in both eyes for the last two years. McNamee escorted the patient to the Dai Loc General Hospital, where the FHF had helped build the Eye Department in 2007, for a free eye operation.

On Wednesday, McNamee took the patient back to her house and removed the bandage from her eyes, together with doctors from Dai Loc General Hospital.

“It’s just amazing that I can see the life-changing difference that the Fred Hollows could make. I’m so happy that she can see now and excited to go back and tell other Australian people about the foundation’s work in Vietnam,” she said.

In June, McNamee had helped raise funds for the FHF through the entertainment reality show “Dancing with the stars.”

She will become an ambassador for the FHF after this visit to Vietnam, the foundation office in Hanoi said.

Since 2006, the FHF has joined Thanh Nien’s “Sight for life” program, which offers free operations for poor cataract patients with a donation of 1,200 artificial lenses and VND480 million so far.

For more than 15 years, FHF has helped train and equip nearly 400 doctors in Vietnam to perform modern sight-restoring cataract surgeries and expanded its program to all parts of the country. It has increased the number of annual cataract operations to 12,000.

Reported by Giang An