Tina’s
Sightline Story
I have a visual impairment which affects my central vision called diabetic maculopathy. The macula is the part of the eye that helps to provide us with our central vision. Diabetic maculopathy is when the macula sustains some form of damage. One such cause of macular damage is from diabetic macular oedema whereby blood vessels near to the macula leak fluid or protein onto the macula.
I first realised something was wrong when I couldn’t see the colours when I was painting. At age 45 my vision was almost perfect so developing an eye condition was something I had to get used to as my sight deteriorated rapidly. I can see several shadows at once which move around a lot, it’s quite disorientating!
My befriender also lost his sight later in life so can really understand my thoughts and feelings which has been so useful to me during our weekly calls. He was a builder and I worked in the Probation Service; we can both appreciate the massive shift in life circumstances associated with vision loss.
I’d like to think we both benefit from these calls. A befriender is someone on neutral ground, more so than a family member, which has proved invaluable for me. I have siblings and find those relationships challenging; my befriender provides that listening ear and helpful advice if I need a sounding board!
Ashley, my befriender, is kind and caring without being too intrusive. I know a lot about him, and he knows a lot about me – we’ve really grown into our befriending relationship since our first call in December last year.
My befriending friendship with Ashley is a two-way street. We have lots of things to talk about; him and his dogs; me and my love of art. My budgie is always present for our calls too; he often chirps up in the background – I’m sure he loves the art of conversation!
Ashley and I quite often speak for over an hour each week. It doesn’t matter as there’s no limit to the amount of time we have to chat – time runs away some weeks and I love that. We’ve purposely arranged for the calls to take place on days and times when we know we can chat for as long as either of us want.
I would really miss these calls if they didn’t happen and feel quite depressed; I’d feel as though I’d lost a really good friend too.
Names have been changed to protect identities.
If you or someone you know could benefit from a weekly call from one of our trained telephone befrienders, please call 0800 587 2252 or email us at info@sightline.org.uk to find out more.
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