Finding my freedom

After going blind in her twenties, Janet Gray found some rather surprising ways to gain independence, discovers Elizabeth Archer

- Elizabeth Archer

When Janet Gray lost her sight to glaucoma at 21, it was the end of her life as she knew it. But she was determined not to let blindness hold her back.

And she went on to become a four-time World Disabled Waterskiing Champion, before retiring to have a successful career as a city councillor, and a high-profile role with the police service.

“I might have lost my sight but I didn’t lose my vision,” says Janet, 50.

She was a teenager when her father and younger brother both lost their vision to glaucoma, which damages the optic nerve.

“It wasn’t traceable in the family anywhere so it was a bolt out of the blue,” she says.

Then when she was 19, she started to notice her own vision blurring and was also diagnosed, losing her sight two years later.

“It felt as though my life had ended. It was traumatic because I suddenly felt vulnerable, even in my own home.

“It took time to come to terms with it. I lost two stone and was constantly sick because I’d lost so much weight.”