Mandy’s Sight Story

Mandy pictured smiling in a garden in summerMandy de la Mare tells her story of sight loss and giving support to others

I am the host for the visually impaired MeetUp group on zoom.

I’ve been blind for over 30 years now, I was always blind in one eye and just partially sighted in the other. In March 1979 I suffered a detached retina which I had surgery for and they managed for a while to repair my retina fixing it back in place. This process was complicated by the damage to my eye caused by the drug thalidomide.

Over a period of time I suffered many detached retinas, in the end this all caused so much damage I had to give up.

Mandy is a Trust volunteer and runs the MeetUp group with Geoff Spink for beneficiaries living with visual and physical impairments. The aim is to share experiences and information to help others.

You can join the beneficiary Meetup group Positively Connected. You will need to create an account on Meetup using your email address and then request to join the group.

Visit the Positively Connected web page to join

 

Further information

Vision impairment

Sight impaired man smiling with friends outdoors

Information and support for visually impaired beneficiaries

Learn more