Vision Centre

Reunion a sight for sore eyes
The Gold Coast Bulletin, 4 May 2002
By Joanne Gibbons

A GOLD Coast surgeon has played a role in reuniting a family divided by war. Mato Milicevic watched his family and friends scatter to all corners of the globe to escape war-torn Bosnia. Mr Milicevic and his wife Zora remained in the city of Bugojno while their children fled to Australia, Germany and Austria. Daughter Maria Ribicic ended up on the Gold Coast after leaving Bosnia in 1993. Sister Blazanka followed five years later after spending time in Germany, while a brother fled to Austria.

The family was reunited in Australia last week for the first time since 1993 when Maria and Blazanka organised an eye operation for their father, who was blind in one eye. A massive cataract was slowly growing in Mr Milicevic's right eye, and the lack of modern medical technology in Bosnia forced him to live with the problem.   His daughters knew their father could have the operation on the Gold Coast and arranged for the Vision Centre's Roger Welch to perform the surgery.

Dr Welch removed the cataract, about the size and hardness of a glass marble, using world-class technology and restored Mr Milicevic's sight. Maria said the family was thrilled by the reunion and the operation's success. "Our father's need for surgery to save his sight brought us all together," she said. "Now he can enjoy a whole new world because he can see perfectly." Mr Milicevic said that the day after the operation his sight was 'good enough to pass a driving test'. It was fantastic. "I could see the trees, the leaves, the buildings and my daughters clearly. "We cannot thank Dr Welch enough for what he has done." Maria said the war in Bosnia had driven her family apart but she loved her new life in Australia.