80 lengths of the pool for VE Day

Blind veteran Lee swam a total of 2,000 metres of his local pool on 8 May to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day and has raised over £2,500 for our charity.

Lee, 49, and from Plymouth, completed the challenge at Plympton Swimming Pool in just over two hours. 

Lee says:

“My body was aching the following day but to have raised such an incredible amount of money to support Blind Veterans UK makes it all worth it. 

“I’m humbled by the support I’ve had and everyone’s kind words."

Lee started preparing for the challenge back in March and until then, had not swam more than two lengths of the pool since losing his sight.

Lee is ‘black blind’, this means he has no sight at all. He says:

"I need help to get in and out of the pool and once in I feel like a human pinball, bouncing off the ropes marking my lane and only discovering I’ve reached the end when I bang my head and then know it’s time to turn around.

“I have found that I need to stick to breast stroke as then I can feel the wall with my arms as I make my way along.”

Sight loss

Lee lost his sight suddenly in his mid-40s following a brain haemorrhage. He says:

“What I thought was a Sunday morning nap, turned into something much more serious. I went into a coma and the doctors were preparing my family for the worst. When I woke in hospital a few weeks later, it wasn’t immediately obvious that I’d lost my sight as I was hallucinating and seeing all sorts of things; it was absolutely terrifying.  
 
“When I realised what had happened, I thought my life was over. I was discharged from hospital a day before the country went into the first Covid lockdown adding to my feeling of loss and isolation.  I just stayed inside for six months selling or giving away everything I owned.” 

Our support

Lee received a phone call out of the blue from one of our Community Support Workers who told him that we may be able to help him. 
Lee says:

“I had all but forgotten about my military service as it was very brief and I wasn’t at all sure of accepting the support of the charity at first but reluctantly agreed to have a visit."

For Lee, this challenge was his way of giving something back to our charity and to pay his respects to those men and women who made it possible for us to live as we do now. He says:

"It is important that we do not forget their sacrifice.”

Lee had set himself a fundraising target of £80 but has far exceeded this, already raising over £2,500. There is still time to support Lee and to help him raise even more money.