Devon blind veteran to march at Cenotaph
A Second World War veteran from Devon will be marching at the Cenotaph in London this Remembrance Sunday (13/11) with the military charity Blind Veterans UK.
Ron Wyman, 90 and from Honiton, feels strongly about Remembrance Sunday because of his experiences in the Armed Forces and is thankful to Blind Veterans UK that he can now attend the national Remembrance Sunday commemoration.
Ron will be marching at the Cenotaph in London with more than 100 other blind veterans supported by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision impaired ex-Service men and women.
Ron joined the Army in 1942 and first trained with the Royal West Kents before becoming part of to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC). He was sent to India and attached to the Indian Army Ordnance Corps. He went on to serve as the PA to Major General of Ordnance and travelled around India until he left the Army in 1946 as a Sergeant.
After the Army, Ron worked for Racal, an electronics company making mobile phones and the parent company to Vodafone. Ron worked as a purchasing officer travelling around the country with large handsets to test the strength of signals, which he did until retirement.
Ron was blind in his right eye since he was a boy due to an accident but he started to lose his sight in his left eye 10 years ago. He was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), a leading cause in sight loss in older people.
He says: “I lost my sight quite gradually. At first I only had to give up driving but then I had to give up reading books and now I cannot even watch TV. I listen to TV quizzes now and I guess it’s not too bad as there’s not much good on anyway!”
Ron learned about Blind Veterans UK from a fellow veteran supported by the charity whilst playing boules. He started receiving free help and support from the charity in 2011. He has had training and equipment from Blind Veterans UK to enable him to live independently with sight loss.
He says: “When you start going blind you don’t realise what you’re going to miss when your sight gets worse. I wasn’t able to see pictures of my family but with the CCTV reader Blind Veterans UK provided I can enlarge the pictures on a screen so I see them once again – it’s absolutely brilliant.”
Ron also enjoys attending the local Blind Veterans UK lunch clubs in Sidmouth and last year went to both the Buckingham Palace Garden Party and the Westminster Abbey Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the charity’s centenary.
He says: “Blind Veterans UK is marvellous and I cannot praise them enough. They’ve helped me in so many ways that it was great celebrating 100 years of their great work at the two events last year.”
Ron is set to march with other vision-impaired ex-Service men and women supported by Blind Veterans UK as part of the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations in London on Sunday 13 November 2016.
Ron says: “This is the first time I’ll be marching to the Cenotaph in London and I’m so grateful to Blind Veterans UK for making that possible.
“The war is so long ago now but I still recall what happened. So many people from the Armed Forces lost their lives fighting for our freedom and it’s good to think about them and all they sacrificed.”
This November coincides with the 100th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Somme. Blind Veterans UK supported more than 250 blinded veterans who lost their sight at the Somme.
Chief Executive of Blind Veterans UK, Major General (Rtd) Nick Caplin CB says: “This year’s Remembrance Sunday is particularly poignant as our delegation of current blind veterans remember those blinded at the Somme but also those who didn’t make it back.
“Today, Blind Veterans UK supports more blind and vision-impaired veterans than ever before in the charity’s history and we have set an ambitious target to double the number of veterans we support in the next five years.”
Blind Veterans UK is the national charity for blind and vision-impaired ex-Service men and women, providing vital practical and emotional support to help veterans discover life beyond sight loss. The charity estimates that there are currently 59,000 blind veterans that would be eligible to access its specialist support, most of whom are not currently aware of it.
If you, or someone you know, served in the Armed Forces or did National Service and are now battling severe sight loss, find out how Blind Veterans UK could help by calling 0800 389 7979 or visiting noonealone.org.uk.
