Feature: A Boxing Champion’s incredible Recovery

The story of Alex Dennis, the former boxing champion who had his vision restored thanks to life-changing surgery 

ALEX Dennis was in his early 40s when his vision started becoming cloudy and blurry.

Within a short space of time he had gone from living a full and independent life to completely relying on his wife Daphne and children to get around.
The singer, guitarist, and former Australian boxing champion was diagnosed with blinding cataracts and was forced to give up work and hung up his boxing gloves.
“First one eye went cloudy and then the other,” he told news.com.au.
“It got so bad my wife had to lead me around everywhere, I couldn’t see.”
But some lifesaving surgery thanks to the Fred Hollows Foundation has turned his life around in what the now 53-year-old has described as a “pure miracle”.
“When I lost my bit of sight it affected my boxing training with my mates and my friends and it affected my music. I couldn’t focus or set up anything,” he said.
“I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t cook which is terrible ‘cos I like cooking and well everything, general in life — it changed my life, very hard.
“Now I can see my beautiful wife again. I can see the green grass.
“It’s a miracle, Fred Hollows is a miracle.”
Mr Dennis had cataract surgery on one eye last year and earlier this year had his vision restored completely in the other eye when he travelled three hours to Bourke District Hospital to have further surgery.
He was one of 30 patients to receive the operations which were carried out by the Outback Eye Service with the support of The Fred Hollows Foundation and the federal and New South Wales governments.
Bourke was the final stage of a pilot program to deliver cataract surgery to members of remote indigenous communities in a bid to reduce delays.
The Walgett resident said the surgeries not only restored his vision but gave him his life back.
The home care worker, who looks after seven clients, said he was truly blessed and looking after them made him realise how lucky he really was.
“It’s rewarding work,” he said.
“To see the smiles on their faces makes me realise I am truly blessed.”
Mrs Dennis, a teacher, said the change in her husband had been enormous.
“When he was blind I had to do all the cooking, driving, taking him to the shops and filling out his forms — all the things you take for granted when you can see,” she told Fred Hollows staff.
“But since his sight has been restored he doesn’t need to depend on me anymore. He can take on responsibilities for himself. It’s just unbelievable.”
Mr Dennis’s story comes on top of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a major Millennium Developing Goal.
Fred Hollows Foundation CEO Brian Doolan said the impact of restoring someone’s sight was not just about changing that person’s life but delivered massive social and economic benefits as well.
“The economic value of eliminating avoidable blindness is enormous — it’s in the same league as investing in primary education and major community infrastructure projects,” Mr Doolan said.
“For every $1 invested in preventing someone from going blind, at least four times the financial benefit goes to the economy.
“Four out of five people who are blind don’t need to be and we can eliminate avoidable blindness, including in Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
“Vulnerable people — including women and those living in poverty — are more likely to suffer from blindness and less likely to be able to afford treatment.”
According to the foundation, better eye health delivers immediate economic benefits for disadvantaged families and communities.
Figures show indigenous Australian adults today are six times more likely to be blind than non-indigenous Australian adults, and 12 times more likely to be blinded by cataracts.
Australia also remains the only developed country in the world where people still suffer from the blinding infectious eye disease trachoma, often referred to as the ‘disease of poverty’, affecting up to two-thirds of people in remote Aboriginal communities.