'Losing my sight has saved my life'

MAN, 51, DRANK FOUR LITRES OF VODKA A DAY UNTIL HE WENT BLIND

- By JAMES MUTCH, RACHAEL DAVIS

Ray and his guide dog Garson Ray took on the Three Peaks Challenge Ray handing in a petition at No. 10 fighting to end homelessness

A LIVERPOOL man who was addicted to alcohol says “losing my sight has saved my life” after being registered as blind made him tackle his drinking problem.

Ray Clements, 53, would consume between two and four litres of vodka daily, alongside using cocaine “just really to keep me out longer”, enabling him to drink more during the peak of his addiction.

However, it was only when he was diagnosed with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a rare genetic condition causing vision loss, that he decided to transform his life and become clean and sober.

Ray received his LHON diagnosis in February 2022, after waking up on his 49th birthday to find his vision “had gone really, really bad”. His condition has progressively deteriorated over time and he now has “very, very blurred” central vision.

During the daytime, Ray can see shapes, but in darkness he can only make out lights.

Despite this, he firmly believes losing his sight has saved his life, as without the stark reality of being registered blind, he may never have quit drinking.

Ray said: “On my 49th birthday, I woke up in the morning and my sight had gone really, really bad. I just thought I’d crack on. I went out with my brothers and a few friends for my birthday and I was telling them there’s something wrong with my sight. They're telling me to get new glasses and all that stuff, but my elder brother also suffers from Leber’s.

“I went a couple of weeks and then I went to a local Specsaver and I said: ‘Something's wrong with my sight.’ He found a tear in one of my eyes and he said it could be that and I was absolutely chuffed, (thinking) it’s just a tear in my eye.