There were many who wondered if he ever did retire, because after doing so for the first time at the age of 65 in 1997 he continued to work. He was a locum in both New Zealand and Australia, where he was appointed ophthalmologist to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and he assisted with voluntary cataract operations in the Restoration of Sight for Survival projects in Cambodia and Nepal, including voluntary surgery for the Fred Hollows Foundation.
By 2007, having compiled a history of the New Zealand Contact Lens Society for its 50th anniversary, he was still contemplating the retirement he promised the previous year when he stood down as chairman of the Napier Health Services Advocacy Committee. He led the committee since it was founded in 2004 amid the closing of Napier Hospital and concerns about the levels of consultation, or lack of them, between the district health board and the people of Napier over the future of health services in the city.
It was in 2010 that his services were recognised on the wider scale, when he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the New Year Honours for services to ophthalmology and the community.
Dr Sabiston’s move from Christchurch as a house surgeon at Napier Hospital in 1957, having studied at the University of Otago, was made as much for love as for his career. He recalled at the time of learning of his New Year Honour, that Napier Hospital had been one of the only hospitals in the country that allowed engaged and married couples to work on the wards together.
Two years later he was asked if he would like to become the hospital’s surgical registrar, a position he took up after travelling to the UK to study for his Diploma in Ophthalmology in 1961, and his achievement led to him over time extending his responsibilities to patients throughout Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and the East Coast.
In 2010 he told Hawke’s Bay Today: “Eyes are a fascinating subject. The great thing is that practically everything is there for you to see. They are the mirrors of medical disease and give you a clue to what is going on.’”
His role at the Olympic Games in Sydney ranged from routine checks for some of the world’s greatest athletes to dealing with acute injuries. It added to the fascination and he revealed the worst were from boxing, leading to him saying: “If I had my way it would be banned. It’s a totally unnecessary sport.”'
Away from the surgery of ophthalmology, Dr Sabiston was a patron of Napier’s oldest bowling club, Bluff Hill, he was actively involved with the Napier Park Racing Club and Hawke’s Bay Racing Incorporated, and was a past president of the Rotary Club of Napier, having in 1985 become a recipient of Rotary International’s Paul Harris Medal.
In racing, he was a part-owner of a horse called Bay Doll, which showed some promise before having to retire because of injury, but he was able to keep performing in sport himself, being a member of Hawke’s Bay team that won a New Zealand over-70 teams event.
He was also a life member of Hawke’s Bay Racing, the Hawke’s Bay Club and Hawke’s Bay Wine and Food Society.
