“It’s going to be a part of who I am. It’s not going to define me”
When asked about his disability, Tim was adamant on focusing on the positive. He strongly believes in making the most out of every situation no matter the hardship that goes along with it.
Tim was diagnosed with wet macular degeneration in 2012. Before going blind, Tim spent most of his time pursuing his love for running. He constantly trained for marathons and triathlons and kept active through participation in various sports.
Tim joined Dorset Blind Association to gain support for dealing with his disability and has been an active member of several initiatives that DBA has organised. He attends several meetings and also participates in the sport of goalball.
Tim feels that DBA has given him a pathway to meeting new people that have different conditions of blindness that can relate to a lot of the problems he faces in his day-to-day life. He feels that he can have a stronger conversation with other members of DBA and hence help keep him socially active.
Tim has a very positive outlook on life and even puts his disability down to “just finding a different way to do things.” Although his disability has had an effect on his passion for athletics, he has gradually managed to pick up the sport of running again and is even participating in DBA’s annual run this year. He feels a constant need to push himself to achieve the highest heights possible.
Tim finds it hard at times to relate to people who do not quite understand his disability. He feels that there are simple means of aiding a partially sighted person that people should know about. He also reflects upon DBA’s #tryitlbind campaign that aims to give the general public an understanding of what it is like to be blind and/or partially sighted.
Tim continues to find the positives in everything that he does and is always looking for new and exciting experiences that he can be a part of. He does admit that there are several things that he misses but he will power through and keep many joyous sights in his memory.