“It all happened overnight. I went to bed with a headache one evening and woke up the next morning not able to see out of my right eye. I thought I was dreaming. I opened and closed my eyes, lifted the blinds, washed my face, rubbed my eyelids, blinked and blinked and blinked until tears ran down my cheeks. But I still couldn’t see.”

It’s been a few months since Richard became partially blind and, although such a drastic change takes adjusting to, living on his own has meant needing to quickly adapt. To navigate through his home, slow movements ensure that he doesn’t lose balance, a light hand placed on surfaces and door handles allows him to pass from room to room, and placing objects near bright window light helps his working eye to focus on them. In addition to this, belongings have found specific places around the home to aid in finding them easily – walking poles sit by the back door and a shoehorn hangs by the entrance.

Richard explains how he has spent every waking moment trying to relearn fundamental life skills and that even the simplest of tasks feel impossible at times.“I’ve lost more than my vision. I’ve lost my independence” he says. He now relies on assistive aids, such as a magnifying glass to read and write, walking poles to get around safely, and a shoehorn to put on footwear. Laughing, he carefully makes a cup of tea whilst explaining that he sometimes misses the mug entirely.