I know Tommy as he has been a Trustee of Southampton Sight (Southampton Society of the Blind) since 1993 and has always been an exemplary example of how to live a full, independent and happy life with severe sight loss. ​

Tom was a foster child in Glasgow and still has a very loving relationship with his foster family. When he was 16 years old, he left to join the Merchant Navy which by all accounts he loved as he travelled the world but unfortunately on the eve of his 31st birthday he ingested arsenic which led to total blindness. He didn’t cope at all well and on return to Southampton was unemployed and isolated. Speaking to the Southampton City Council Rehabilitation Officers for the Visually Impaired at the time it was a long road to get Tom back to respecting himself and others. He was sent to adult education colleges in Devon and Loughborough for rehabilitation. Tom tells the story of going to a camp with other people with sight loss and seeing their capacity to live well spurred him on to live bet​

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