Dale Greatorex worked as a scaffolder until he was furloughed during the pandemic, on his return to work he noticed a significant deterioration in his vision and booked an appointment with his optician.
The optician checked Dale’s eyes and prescribed new glasses, but when he tried them he still couldn’t see the number plate on his car, so he challenged the diagnosis. After numerous tests the doctors remain unsure about the precise cause of his vision loss, diagnosing an unexplained neurological problem – a faulty connection between his brain and eyes, which means he’s now partially sighted.
After receiving counselling to help him deal with his life-changing vision loss, Dale was referred to Shared Vision at My Sight Notts where he met others going through similar experiences.
“During lockdown everything stopped,” recalls Dale, “There seemed to be no help from anywhere and I felt I’d been abandoned. So when I got a call from My Sight Notts inviting me to Shared Vision I thought ‘what have I got to lose?
“It’s been incredible meeting other people who understood my anxiety and everyday frustrations. It’s easy to think you’re on your own trying to deal with this scary thing that’s happening. So when you meet other people in a similar boat, you learn from each other and you support each other, it’s really life-changing. I’m now volunteering for My Sight Notts and supporting others to get the vital help they need to live their best lives with low vision. Support is out there and I would strongly urge people to get an eye test which is the first step towards a diagnosis and once they know what they’re dealing with, they should find out about the support available to them so they can begin to rebuild their lives.”
Optometrists across Nottinghamshire have raised alarm bells about the number of appointments ‘lost’ during lockdown as fears of a sight loss time bomb grow. Optometrists estimate that around 36% of eye tests (around c80,000) were ‘lost’ across Notts during Covid and services are now working hard to catch up.
David Cartwright, NHS Optometrist said: “Approximately 37,000 people across Notts today are living with mild, moderate or severe visual loss (RNIB data toolkit 2021), which significantly affects their quality of life. A staggering 50% of these cases might be avoided by having a sight test, which will spot the early signs of vision loss so that treatment or support can be put in place before serious vision loss occurs.
“During Eye Health Week (19-25 September) we urge people to come forward and have an eye test so that they can receive medical interventions and support to prevent avoidable vision loss.”
Michael Conroy, Chief Executive at My Sight Notts, the local charity that supports Dale and other local people with sight loss said: “Living with low vision is often an isolating and lonely experience, leading to poor mental health outcomes for people struggling alone. We offer emotional support to help people come to terms with their vision loss and our Shared Vision service helps connect people going through a similar situation so that friendships and coping strategies can develop and people living with low vision can face the future with greater confidence. We also provide services that help people retain their independence by learning how to get the most from technology, such as smart devices and phone apps and our social groups, sports activities and arts workshops enable people to enjoy a good quality of life with low vision.”