Hollywood actor Richard Gere calls him one of the world’s greatest living humanitarians

The late Fred Hollows described him as a soul mate

Fellow Eye Surgeons have called him the Steve Jobs of Opthalmology

The people of Nepal simply call him The God Of Sight

And the book by Australian journalist Ali Gripper profiling his life is called The Barefoot Surgeon

Whatever label bestowed upon Nepal’s first ever Opthalmologist, words only go so far in portraying the remarkable impact Dr Sanduk Ruit has had and continues to have on humanity.

He has personally restored sight to over 120,000 human beings – for our Australian listeners I want you to imagine a Melbourne Cricket Ground full of blind people, with 20,000 more waiting in line – all to be personally operated on by one man.

It’s no surprise that such efforts have led to accolades including Asia’s version of the Nobel Peace Prize – The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asian Of The Year – and I’m so happy to say an Honorary Order of Australia “for services to humanity”

But Sanduk Ruit’s life has been far from smooth sailing. In fact, having recently read and then re-read The Barefoot Surgeon, it’s fair to say Dr Sanduk Ruit has lived one of the more harrowing lives that I have come across … much of which we’ll cover in this interview.

Buy the book The Barefoot Surgeon by Ali Gripper.

Support the Fred Hollows Foundation

Learn more about Dr Ruit’s work here

Learn more about curing preventable blindness here

Watch some inspirational videos of Dr Ruit here