Blind veteran running London Marathon to raise money for us

A blind veteran from Cumbria is running the London Marathon to raise money for us  after we helped him to rebuild his confidence after sight loss.

Darren, 35, who lost his eyesight suddenly at just 23 years old, is taking part in the London Marathon on 2 October.

Darren said:

“I’ve already run 39 marathons this year! The London Marathon will be number 40. But this marathon is especially important to me as I am running it in memory of my friend, fellow blind veteran and previous Vice President of the charity, Maria.

“Maria died in August this year after a long illness and will be sadly missed by all those who came into contact with her.

“She was a huge inspiration to me and showed me what could be achieved, she was the first female blind veteran to run the London Marathon.”

Asked about when he first lost his eye sight, Darren said:

“When I lost my eyesight, I was angry, depressed, sad and confused and was questioning, why me?

“My cousin set to work raising money to try and buy some equipment that would help me. He was handed a leaflet for Blind Veterans UK, before that I hadn’t heard of the charity but I got in touch.

“I joined in 2011 and they have helped me massively. I was shown what others had achieved despite sight loss which has helped my mental health and more practically I was provided with and shown how to use IT equipment, a scanner to read paperwork, a mobile phone, software for the phone, and a long cane.

“The biggest thing that Blind Veterans UK has done for me is given me the confidence to make the most of opportunities. Without the support and encouragement of the charity, I wouldn’t have travelled alone to Los Angeles to compete in a marathon or experienced skiing.

“If you can imagine always looking through a frosted bathroom window, that is what I see every day. I’m also deaf in one ear. It is tiring trying to work out what other runners are going to do and constantly avoiding obstacles while running marathons but I feel amazing when I run and have further challenges in mind including more international marathons.

“I am very thankful to Blind Veterans UK and to the veterans that welcomed me to the charity and helped me on my journey.”