ROCKDALE optometrist Albert Lee will travel to Nepal this week to help thousands of people affected by the April earthquakes.
Mr Lee will be part of a Rotary team that will visit the region on September 27 as part of a two-week mission.
During that time the team of 20 are expected to treat 3000 patients and perform 200 cataract surgeries.
This is the first time Mr Lee has visited the region but he previously helped people in need across Sri Lanka, Vanuatu, the Tiwi Islands and the Northern Territory.
He was driven to help people after he fell beneath a train in 1983, losing both his legs above the knee.
"I have an interest in public health and I like giving back to the community and trying to help people who can't help themselves," he said.
"Most of the areas we're going to probably wouldn't have seen any eye health at all. Most blindness is an uncorrected error.
"After we've finished you see their faces light up.
"They see the world in a whole different way."
Since his accident he has represented Australian at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in volleyball and has competed in the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race.
He was also part of a seven-person disabled sailing crew who set a record in 2003 for circumnavigating Australia non-stop and unassisted.
"Ever since my accident at uni I told myself I wouldn't let my disability restrict me.
"I feel so fortunate in what I've got rather than what I haven't got."
