The medical career of ophthalmologist Dr James Muecke has not been without its personal challenges.

The Australian of the Year has dedicated much of his professional life helping disadvantage countries treat and prevent blindness, and is sometimes likened to another national hero, Professor Fred Hollows.

As he describes below, his experiences as a young doctor in Africa, which included being held at gunpoint by Idi Amin’s henchmen, changed him forever.

But then over the past decade, he has also had to deal with a rare neurological condition, a condition that has slowly eroded his surgical abilities to the point where he believes he will soon give up clinical practice completely.