D-Day 80 - Honouring Service
Young and old, blind veterans have displayed incredible courage and loyalty. Please support them.
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Young blind veterans like Anthony are inspired by our D-Day veterans.
Anthony was just 23 when his life changed forever. On patrol in Afghanistan in 2010, he stood on an explosive device. He was able to warn his fellow soldiers but he took the full force of the blast. He was very badly injured and woke from a coma having lost his legs and his sight.
During a visit to our centre of wellbeing in Llandudno, Anthony remembers witnessing D-Day veterans adapting to their sight loss and it gave him hope. He tried the equipment offered to him - his first device was an EasyRead scanner, that reads text out loud. He realised he could be independent again - such an important turning point for someone so young.
Giving blind veterans back their independence is one way of honouring their enormous sacrifice.
Anthony is not the only one to be inspired by our 1944 veterans.
Anthony has been awarded an MBE but he insists the D-Day veterans are in a class of their own.
We have been privileged to interview 16 veterans of the Normandy landings, who worked together to make the pivotal invasion a success. We will be sharing their incredible stories in a commemorative magazine for the 80th anniversary.
Royal Navy veteran Alec is one of them. As a U-boat detector and cover force, his ship accompanied the fleet across the channel. He will never forget it.
Today, Alec needs your support so he can live safely in his own home and not succumb to loneliness. His case worker has matched him with a volunteer who visits him and has coordinated a telephone chat group. She has made his kitchen accessible by adding tactile markers to his appliances and he has been taught to use a cane to keep him mobile.
If the invasion hadn’t taken hold, if we hadn’t managed to land our troops on the beaches there, this world would have been a different place.
Blind veteran
If you would like a copy of our D-Day commemorative magazine, please sign up for email updates before 6 June 2024.
Honour their service - donate now
Our D-Day 80 appeal will run throughout this summer, highlighting the extraordinary contribution of our D-Day veterans.
Young and old, all blind ex-Service men and women deserve the support and equipment to stay independent and be able to live safely.
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