:: Jessica McNamee joins Fred’s Foundation

By: Carmine Pascuzzi

Australian actress Jessica McNamee has officially joined The Fred Hollows Foundation as an Ambassador following a visit to Vietnam where she witnessed sight being restored to the blind. The Packed to the Rafters and Dancing with the Stars personality began her association with The Foundation, which has restored sight to well over 1 million people world-wide, after she raised money during last year’s season of Dancing with the Stars.

Jess recently visited The Foundation’s program work in Vietnam whilst she was on holidays in South East Asia. During her visit, she witnessed sight being restored to several patients including an 86-year old lady called Pham Thi Thong. Thong had been blinded by cataracts two years. Jess escorted Thong to the eye department at Dai Loc General Hospital, which The Foundation helped build in 2007. Twenty-four-hours after receiving cataract surgery, Jess removed Thong’s eye patch to reveal that her sight had been fully restored.

“It was one of the privileges of my life following this beautiful lady through her journey from complete blindness to sight,” Jess says.

She joins personalities such as Olympic gold medallist Susie O’Neill as an Ambassador for The Foundation. In particular, Jess will be representing The Foundation’s ‘Miracle Club’- which encourages supporters to make a monthly contribution of $25, which is enough money to restore sight to a person in some of the countries where The Foundation works.

Jess added, “I’ve read a lot about Professor Fred Hollows over the past few months, so I feel extremely honoured that I can now represent his inspiring work that continues seventeen years after his passing. He is one of our greatest Australians, so to see for myself how his work is continuing to bring hope to people who would otherwise live a life of blindness, is incredible. When I first started talking to people at The Foundation, I couldn’t believe that 3 out of 4 people who are blind in the world don’t have to be. I didn’t realise that such a small amount of money can improve someone’s life forever, but now I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”