“I am registered severely sight impaired. I’ve been doing sports since I was eleven years old. I started off in athletics and competed for Great Britain doing 100m and 200m sprints. Then I was a national sprinting champion for 8 years and I’ve even competed against non-disabled athletes. I’ve also got two England shirts for playing blind cricket for England in Barbados.
I got into playing blind football at the Royal National College for the Blind, I took part in their sessions, and I’ve played since then. Blind football is played five-a-side on a pitch with sideboards, with players wearing eye patching and eyeshades, apart from the goalkeepers.
A ball with audible ball bearings in is used, and we use a form of echo location to orientate ourselves. The communication on the field includes players shouting ‘voy’ when going for the ball to signal their position to an opponent. I train twice monthly at the National Football Centre in Burton-on-Trent, which is quite a journey!
Sport has given me a new lease of life and a chance to show what I can do. Not only that but it’s given me social connections, the opportunity to travel and an outlet for any anxieties I have. Knowing I have sport in my life has been invaluable for my mental health.
I love working in the Discharge Assessment Unit and I’ve found my sight impairment can be a good way to open up conversations with patients, I’ve even got out the football we use in matches to show them. I’d like to think showing patients that my disability hasn’t stopped me could help them with their recovery. Saltram and Lopes wards are a lovely place to work, the surroundings are so tranquil, and my colleagues really give me a lift and keep me going.
The best part of the job though is seeing patients smiling, getting back on their feet and saying thank you to me. It makes it all worth it.”