IRIS

4 The IRIS Magazine
Steps Towards Freedom
21 year old Nathan Edge, from
Mansfield, is the picture of health
and happiness and regularly
attends long distance running
events with the help of a
“My Guide” guide runner from
the charity Guide Dogs. Here
Nathan tells us how losing his
sight changed his life, and how his
guide dog, Hudson, led him out of
the darkness.
At five years old I woke up one morning
to find my left knee had locked at a 90
degree angle and swollen to twice the
size. I was soon diagnosed with a fairly
rare form of Arthritis and would undergo
a year of treatment and surgery to
regain movement in the joint.
A year on much of the Arthritis had
cleared up and I was able to walk
properly again.
However the next year my vision went
blurred – seemingly for no reason.
Unbelievably the inflammation from the
knee had moved to the back of the eyes
and I was left with around 20% vision
with a condition called Uveitis.
Eventually the sight loss was stabilized
but I was left with reduced vision for
some time. I was able to have a fairly
normal childhood however - if you ignore
the regular hospital trips, large glasses
and the occasional bumping into things!
I had plenty of friends, enjoyed
watching and playing sport, over
achieved at school and the future was
looking bright… but shortly after my
18th birthday things started to
go wrong.
When I returned from the end of season
break I noticed something wasn’t quite
right as I couldn’t see anywhere near
as much.
My family and I assumed I may need a
change of contact lenses or glasses but
we took the trip to the hospital anyway
and this is where I knew things weren’t
quite right.
When you get passed from one doctor to
another, then to another, then another,
you know something is wrong… but I
wasn’t prepared when the news came -
I had a severe bleed at the back of the
right eye and I was told the sight would
slowly deteriorate.
Nathan, Hudson and My Guide runner Pete
The more my vision disappeared, the
more and more I became isolated from
the world.
I was struggling to get out and do the
things I loved, I was losing friends and
my confidence had just evaporated into
thin air.
It was time to act.
At the time I knew very little about
Guide Dogs and I just couldn’t imagine
how a dog could possibly help someone
but they arranged for me to speak to
owners who shared their stories and
assured me that it would be a life
changing decision.
In September 2013, I started training
with my guide dog Hudson.
Soon enough I was able to understand
everything that those guide dog owners
were telling me as, after we both put
in some work, my confidence started
picking up and I was able to finally take
that big step towards freedom.
That first walk Hudson and I were able
to do together completely on our own
was just incredible.
However just four months after
qualifying with Hudson things once again
took a turn for the worse. Instead of
having a gradual deterioration over an
estimated five or six years, I instead
woke up one Saturday morning in
complete darkness.
Overnight the bleed had significantly
worsened, causing the retina to detach
and take all of my sight in an instant.
At just 19 it was it devastating for me
but it also affected so many loved ones
around me and I had some very difficult
weeks where I really struggled to come
to terms with the sight loss; where I felt
I had lost everything and believed I had
no future.
I shut myself off from the world and I
was no longer myself but luckily for me I
already had Hudson by my side.
He made me realise that I can still have
a good life, that I don’t have to let sight
loss beat me and that I can still go and
do the things I enjoy.
It was as if he knew what I was going
through and he never once left my side
during those difficult weeks and before
I knew it I was back out there and my
confidence was returning.
I took on volunteering opportunities
with Guide Dogs as a public speaker and
a fundraiser which gave me so many
incredible experiences and also helped
me develop as a person.
I was out meeting all sorts of people and
making all kinds of new friends.
I was catching trains to places like
London and starting to experience
life outside of my own town. I was
presenting a radio show, starting up
a business and making a couple of
TV appearances along the way… and
this is all thanks to Guide Dogs, for
bringing Hudson in to my life as well as
introducing me to my My Guide Pete.
For more information about Guide Dogs
and its My Guide service visit
www.guidedogs.org.uk