Rare honour for Kiwi eye surgeon

Eye surgeon Dr Paul Rosser. Photo / Supplied

A leading Kiwi eye surgeon will be awarded rare honorary residency of the Cook Islands for voluntary work over the past 20 years.

Auckland Eye consultant Dr Paul Rosser has visited the islands every year since 1992. He and a team of colleagues have performed about 850 cataract operations, mainly on locals with diabetes.

Dr Rosser, 53, a sub-specialist oculoplastic surgeon, said his love affair with the islands began as a boy while travelling through the Pacific to England by ship.

"I used to make the trips on my own, but for the past decade I have taken a team with me," he said.

"We now have two or three optometrists, two retinal ophthalmologists and a nurse who make the annual trip."

During the July 10 ceremony, dad-of-two Dr Rosser will be awarded residency by the Queen's Representative to the Cook Islands, Sir Frederick Tutu Goodwin.

"I actually operated on Sir Frederick in April," he said. "Then he came to see me in Auckland after he damaged an eye doing a war dance."

A maximum of 650 permanent residency visas can operate at a time in the Cook Islands, which has a population of about 15,000. Honorary residency can be awarded to someone who has made a significant contribution to the tiny South Pacific nation.