Before Lightning Ridge man Steve Wright had his eye surgery, he was a builder and not that long ago, it looked like he might lose sight in both eyes. 

When he was six, Steve lost his right eye in an accident and now wears a prosthetic eye. But more recently, he developed an ulcer and scarring in his left eye due to shingles.

Over ten months, Steve's vision began to deteriorate; he was suffering a gradual loss of sight and increasing damage to his left eye. 

The prospect of Steve becoming completely blind loomed. 

Losing his sight would mean losing his ability to work and look after his family. 

Then one day - it happened he lost sight in both eyes; anything in his left eye was completely blurry. 

"That's when I started to think there was no future for me," he explained. "I couldn't handle being alive for another 30 years, not being able to do anything because I'm a very hands-on person". 

He went into the Outback Eye Service in Walgett just to collect some insurance forms. 

The ophthalmologist there asked to have a look and realized the severity of his situation straight away, and the team organized for Steve to be flown to Sydney Eye Hospital that afternoon.

The ulcer that developed had caused an infection, and the cornea was melting away. Steve received a full cornea transplant which was monitored daily over a period of seven days. 

"Every day, they would open it up and have a look," he said  

"It was on the seventh day after the surgery. It was actually my birthday, and they said, 'What can you see,' and I said, 'I can see everything.' 

"They were only expecting me to see 30-40%, but I could see everything". 

He said with his sight restored, he could return to what he loves - opal mining. 

"I would be blind today without the Outback Eye Service. The people who live out here would be in a whole world of trouble if we didn't have the Outback Eye Service. They are absolutely amazing, all of them; the specialists, the whole team." 

Service Ophthalmic Nurse, Joanna Barton, says Steve's experience epitomizes the service's aims to bring access to world-class services to the bush. 

The Outback Eye Service at work. Image: Fred Hollows Foundation. 

"Steve's story is astonishing, but it's exactly why this service exists, to be able to provide assessment, diagnosis, management, and treatment, including surgery, for our outback residents experiencing sight issues, vision impairment, and at-risk or poor eye health." 

The Outback Eye Service is jointly funded by Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN) in conjunction with the Fred Hollows Foundation and delivered by the Department of Ophthalmology at the Prince of Wales Hospital as part of the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. 

"Without the funding from WNSW PHN, this service would not happen. Even having the WNSW PHN office in Dubbo that allows for face-to-face visits with the staff when we have our quarterly meetings. I love this, and I'm so appreciative that we have such great support to deliver the service." 

WNSW PHN CEO, Andrew Coe, says Steve's story is the latest in a consistently high standard of service delivery by the Outback Eye Service. 

"The complete function and support to deliver the Outback Eye Service to our outback communities has at its core the basic drive by everyone involved to deliver exceptional health outcomes and support for residents." 

Outback Eye Service is an outreach service designed for people living in rural and remote western NSW experiencing vision impairment or are at risk of poor eye health. 

Services such as eye surgeries, including cataracts, consultations, and eye injections, are delivered in Bourke, Lightning Ridge, Walgett, Brewarrina, and Cobar. 

"They saved my life, and I cannot thank them enough for it," Steve said.