So the story behind the charity support...

End of November 2020 I woke up un-able to see out of my right eye. Obviously I paniced did not know what was happening and had no warning at all that something like this was going to happen, then a few days later my left eye went.

After loads of appointments with eye specialist it was said I have inflammation on my retina and this was turning into scar tissue, and I will never be able to see properly again.

I should have mentioned after 6 months of appointments and also bringing a specialist up from London to find out what had caused this to happen it was finally spotted by a brain surgeon on my earlier brain scans when it first happened that I had a very minor stroke in my sleep which had done this to me.

I will go completely blind over time and there is no way of knowing when this could happen, its based on how much the scar tissue grows and how fast it grows.

Thankfully as it stands it's slowed down now but we just cannot bank on anything now as a result.

At this point I had lost all direct central vision in both eyes, I was referred over to the royal society for the blind (rotherham sight and sound) for support.

The support and help they gave me was unreal I already struggled with my mental health so this was a massive impact on myself and the support was unreal teaching me way to adapt and cope with my sight loss.

Bare in mind this was the middle of the covid pandemic too and I had just found out 2 weeks prior to this happening I was going to be a dad for the first time.

Due to the pandemic the mobility team within my local council was running behind with helping get to get me mobile again on my own so the guide dogs stepped in to give me my long cane training and also help with things around the house ect.

I'm now waiting for my guide dog too.

The support and guidance I received from both these charity's is not like anything I have received before and this is why I want to give back.

Why a reef meet type event...

Well in August 2021 I shut my last system down as I gave into my eyes rather than looking at ways to work with the vision I had at this point I was completely blind in my left eye and only had about 20% vision left in my right eye.

This was the worse move ever as now I had nothing to calm my mind after about 3-4 months it came to ahead and I self harmed.

With the support of guide dogs and rotherham sight and sound it was said I needed to find something to calm my mind again and reefing came up.

They worked with me to look into ways it could work and it was alot easier than I thought and wondered why I gave up to start with (I was weak at that time).

The support and help I have received from the community has been un real and I cannot thank everyone enough and this continues still now if I need any help with the tank people run its unreal.

So wanted to give back to the charity's and also show my appreciation to the community by having a reef meet good food and a frag swop etc.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of why I'm doing this and why I appreciate everyone's kind words and support.

John