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Our ambassador, Royal Navy veteran Jamie Weller, from Nottingham, has been invited to make a keynote speech at a flagship event for the disabled community.
Taking place at the NEC, in Birmingham, from 6-7 July, the Naidex fair welcomes individuals with disabilities, and their carers or support workers to explore wide-ranging solutions to improve mobility and accessibility.
Jamie worked as an Aircraft Engineer for the Royal Navy, when, at 20, he noticed a deterioration in his sight. Within three months, he had lost all central vision, was registered blind and discharged from the Navy.
Despite this huge setback in his life, Jamie has gone on to earn a degree in mathematics from the University of Warwick and became the first blind person to qualify as a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
He also won four medals at the Invictus Games in Toronto and trekked for 20 days across Nepal to reach Base Camp Everest. He also represented Great Britain in para-Alpine and Biathlon blind ski racing at the World Para Alpine Ski races.
Jamie will be taking to the stage to open the flagship event today (Tuesday, 5 July) to tell his story and show that life with disability can bring about opportunities never previously considered.
He said: “When I lost my sight, the response from friends, family and society was ‘you can’t see, you can’t do and your life was over’. I want to tell my story to show people that being blind isn’t a disability it is a challenge.
"I like to show that disability isn’t a limiting factor, but we need to educate society and change perceptions. I manage my blindness ... it does not manage me.”
Jamie will be joining our stand at Naidex from Wednesday.
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