Faces most missed if sight is lost, survey finds

WHAT do independence, great sporting occasions, and the faces of our loved ones have in common? – not a lot, until you consider what your life would be like without them.

These individual pleasures are among those we would most miss following loss of vision, according to a Sightsavers Ireland survey of attitudes towards blindness.

The survey, designed to drum up support for Sightsavers Easter campaign and to highlight the fact that 80% of all global blindness is avoidable, found that more than 9 in 10 people cherish sight ahead of the other four senses. Loss of independence is the biggest fear people have of blindness, a fear songstress Imelda May identifies with. Former soccer international and Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn would miss the cut and thrust of sport.

“Cheltenham, Croke Park, Stadium of Light, Lansdowne Road, my kids’ matches and many other marvellous occasions which I am lucky to enjoy now to the full,” he said.

Songbird Mary Black would most miss being able to see the faces of her loved ones, “particularly my three children”.

Ex-Clinic star, actress Leigh Arnold has never taken her sight for granted.

“I was born visually impaired in my left eye, as a baby and throughout my childhood had a number of operations… The thought of losing sight completely has therefore been something I have considered...and I think what I would miss the most is actually seeing my loved ones.”

When the public were asked what they would most miss, 34% said “the face of a loved one”; 33% said “getting around without the help of a cane, guide-dog or other person”.

When asked what was the most important thing they would not be able to do if they lost their sight, approximately one-third said “I would not be able to care for my family” or “I would not be able to continue with my current job or career”.

More than two in five people indicated they would pay more than €500,000 to have their sight restored.

John Fleming, chief executive of Sightsavers Ireland, said: “As little as €20 could fund an adult cataract operation and save sight, while just five cent can protect a child against river blindness for an entire year. The hardship caused by unnecessary blindness is something we want people to think about and is the focus of our current advertising campaign titled ‘Being blind is hard. Being blind in Africa is harder’.