Operation: Technology Kitbag
In the forces your kit can save your life. As a blind veteran, your technology kit can rebuild your life.
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Technology is a truly critical part of helping blind veterans adapt to a life with sight loss. We assess their individual needs and, with your help, each blind veteran receives the kit that will help them achieve their goals.
Read on to hear blind veterans Jill and Chris share which bits of kit transformed their lives or help fill a kitbag.
Chris lost his sight in Afghanistan.
He was just 23 when he was horrifically injured by a Taliban rocket. Hospitalised, his career over, Chris needed to adapt to a very different life.
Chris knows that without technology, he would feel terribly isolated. He can use his voice-activated phone to call his wife and friends and accesses information on the internet with his Amazon Alexa device.
To feel fulfilled, Chris needed some very special pieces of technology.
Chris has always loved the outdoors - it was one of the reasons an army career was so perfect for him. After a Blind Veterans UK photography week, Chris discovered something that would give him his sense of freedom back.
Technology allows him to spend time outside perfecting his shots. As well as his camera, he has a device that helps him focus. “I can tweak the focus and when I'm bang on, it tells me.”
Some of Chris's stunning photos.
We've launched Operation Technology Kitbag so that more blind veterans can get the kit they so urgently need to live independent and fulfilling lives.
Will you help fill a kitbag for a blind veteran?
Jill felt "lost" when a degenerative eye condition robbed her of her sight.
She has been forced to live a life that's very different to her busy time with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.
After her diagnosis, Jill was determined not to feel a burden. With the right assistive technology, she now can manage her own affairs. Her accessible mobile phone is her link to friends, family and to the outside world.
“It’s astounding what I can do with my phone. I can email, take notes, write a letter, take photos. It reads out functions so I can select what I want to do, plus I can control it with my voice."
Blind veteran
Your support also provides vital training.
Of course, it's not always simple to learn to use new equipment and time with our specialist staff is as important as the tech itself. No two blind veterans are the same and neither is the training they receive.
Losing her sight made Jill feel vulnerable and she was particularly afraid of falling for one of the many scams out there. She needed very specific training - and she got it, from IT worker, Amandine. “She was so patient and knew exactly how to help and reassure me”.
"The impact is immeasurable. One mobile phone with the right training can change how a blind veteran lives their entire life."
Technology Practitioner, Blind Veterans UK
Will you kit out our struggling blind veterans?
Our wonderful specialist staff will find solutions to our blind veterans' problems and, with the aid of tech, will enable them to live their life to the fullest.
Your donation today could give a blind veteran back their independence, dignity and freedom of choice. Please be part of Operation Technology Kitbag today.
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