Life Affirming Support: Paul’s Story

I lost my sight very suddenly while living in Manchester in 2019. Initially, this was very hard to come to terms with and I received limited support. All this changed when we moved to York in 2021 and I was introduced to Helen, the Eye Care Liaison Officer at York Hospital.

Helen’s first job was to arrange a Certificate of Vision Impairment which then allowed me to apply for a Blue Badge. From that point on my life exploded with support. Whilst there was nothing further medically that could be done, Helen was able to guide me to the other services in MySight York to help me with practical challenges and provide social opportunities.

From there she gave advice on marking doorways at home to help me move around independently, she showed me a liquid level indicator so I could safely make a cup of tea and gave me an electronic magnifier to try, which allowed me to rekindle my interest in researching my family tree, a hobby I had given up when I lost my sight.

But it isn’t just the practical help that has made such a difference to me, it was the doors that were opened by MySight York’s activities to a whole new social life. I had never played tennis before in my life but I was encouraged to give Visually Impaired Tennis a try. This has become a huge part of my life now, it’s more than playing tennis, it’s life enhancing, it’s about fun and friendships, it is worth its weight in gold. I have made a whole new group of friends and have even taken part in VI Tennis tournaments – and won trophies!

MySight York is an amazing, people orientated organisation, they have transformed my life and I can’t thank them enough.