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Mary's Story
Born in Ripley and living in Derby Mary led a normal life before she was involved in a minor car accident.
The accident had been nothing more than a small collision where her airbag had failed to deploy, resulting in her hitting her head on the steering wheel. On the day of the accident Mary believed she had escaped with little more than a headache and some damage to her car.
Within a few days Mary noticed a disturbance of vision in both of her eyes. She described her sight akin to having half drawn curtains in the way of her vision.
After speaking to a friend Mary visited her GP who rushed her to hospital. She was diagnosed with detached retinas in both eyes and sent for specialist treatment. Surgeons undertook seven operations in as many days in an attempt to save Mary's vision. Unfortunately they were unable to save any sight in her left eye whilst her right eye was left with only around 10%.
Following the operations, Mary struggled with severe pain in her right eye, leading to it being removed completely.
The next few months were particularly devastating for Mary. To compound her sight loss, Mary lost her job, her car and came close to losing her home of more than twenty years. With no income as she struggled to adapt to her sight loss, everyday became a struggle for Mary. The loss of her sight changed Mary. Although her friends first rallied round her, they noticed she was not the gregarious, outgoing person she always was. She had become very insular, quite bitter and extremely quiet. Slowly her friends visited her less, fearing they would say something to upset her.
Eventually Mary was largely on her own, struggling to cope with the depression she was left with.
On one of her regular visits to the ophthalmologist she was told about an organisation called Derbyshire Association for the Blind (DAB) that might be able to support her. Mary got home and decided to give them a call to see what they could do.
Staff and volunteers at DAB were able to establish that Mary had become incredibly isolated and were able to offer her aids and equipment to make reading and other tasks possible.
The accident had been nothing more than a small collision where her airbag had failed to deploy, resulting in her hitting her head on the steering wheel. On the day of the accident Mary believed she had escaped with little more than a headache and some damage to her car.
Within a few days Mary noticed a disturbance of vision in both of her eyes. She described her sight akin to having half drawn curtains in the way of her vision.
After speaking to a friend Mary visited her GP who rushed her to hospital. She was diagnosed with detached retinas in both eyes and sent for specialist treatment. Surgeons undertook seven operations in as many days in an attempt to save Mary's vision. Unfortunately they were unable to save any sight in her left eye whilst her right eye was left with only around 10%.
Following the operations, Mary struggled with severe pain in her right eye, leading to it being removed completely.
The next few months were particularly devastating for Mary. To compound her sight loss, Mary lost her job, her car and came close to losing her home of more than twenty years. With no income as she struggled to adapt to her sight loss, everyday became a struggle for Mary. The loss of her sight changed Mary. Although her friends first rallied round her, they noticed she was not the gregarious, outgoing person she always was. She had become very insular, quite bitter and extremely quiet. Slowly her friends visited her less, fearing they would say something to upset her.
Eventually Mary was largely on her own, struggling to cope with the depression she was left with.
On one of her regular visits to the ophthalmologist she was told about an organisation called Derbyshire Association for the Blind (DAB) that might be able to support her. Mary got home and decided to give them a call to see what they could do.
Staff and volunteers at DAB were able to establish that Mary had become incredibly isolated and were able to offer her aids and equipment to make reading and other tasks possible.
