After I lost my sight and kind of accepted the fact that things have changed rather drastically, I decided it was my time to move forward and try to get back to some sort of normality (whatever that looked like!).
For some of us we need to step a little more carefully “literally” (as you walk into another bollard or A-board outside a shop, or in my case, one of those massive plastic ice creams). So, I realised I needed help, so I was introduced to my ROVI (Rehabilitation Officer Vision Impairment).
I met them at my home where they looked around to make sure I’m safe and gave me some tips and gadgets to make things easier and safer – like a liquid level indicator so I don’t overfill my cup of Yorkshire Tea (other brands are available!). Then we spoke about mobility and getting out and about, which is quite a daunting thought as I couldn’t get around my own house without banging into something.
A guide dog was talked about but as we already had two dogs (one that has a real size issue) we thought that was never going to work.
I was introduced to the long cane (which sounds like a medieval fighting stick…which I found out later on it does give you that possibility to use as such a tool when people don’t move out the way!). I felt like Harry Potter getting his first wand from Diagon Alley – the right length and the right weight.
After a few weeks of training I was let out in to the wild with my new lease of life!
I thought to myself, ‘WOW this thing is amazing, I haven’t bumped into anything for ages, why did I not get one of these sooner, buses are stopping, cars stop so you can cross the road, people help me over the road, even though I didn’t want to cross but I didn’t dare say anything haha’.
Don’t get me started on airports….no queueing! That’s right, NO QUEUEING! Barriers are just opened up or moved, not just for me but whoever is with me it’s like magic.
My kids say, “I can’t wait to go to Alton Towers…no queues!”.
I feel so confident now that people can see me even though I don’t always see them. Don’t ever feel like you have given up because you need a cane – it has given me so much more of my independence back, and not only that, it all folds up and I feel like transformer when I get it out and open it up…get out of my way man on a mission coming through!
