Dad was told his life would change forever but didn't know when

A dad was told his life was going to change forever but he didn’t know exactly when. Dave Kelly, from Anfield, was working at the Royal Wavertree School for the blind as a plasterer when he went for a routine check-up while he was already there.

During the appointment, an optometrist spotted something unusual in the then-teenager’s eyes - something the 17-year-old would keep to himself for years.

The dad-of-two told the ECHO: “I was at the school, so it was a weird fate already. I got told I was going to go blind by the time I was 30 and they got it spot on. I was registered blind within two-weeks [of my 30th birthday] perfect. I was perfectly fine but then I noticed the print in the newspaper was going strange and it just went from there.”

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Dave has a condition called retinitis pigmentosa (RP) which is part of a group of hereditary eye conditions which causes a breakdown and loss of cells in the retina. After the diagnosis, Dave carried on his life as normal. He got married and continued work, but everything changed for the now 62-year-old when he went blind.

He said: “I learnt to put it to the back of my mind but every now and then I would have a little panic and realise it was going to happen to me. You’re invincible when you're young but unfortunately, I wasn’t.

"I didn’t tell anyone about it, very few people knew about it. It was a secret. It was a tough time but the tough years were yet to come. When I lost my sight, I lost everything. I was home alone for three years like a blind Macaulay Culkin. I was stuck there just wondering what to do with my life.

"But those years made me who I am today. I know what it is like to have sight and be non-disabled and I know what it's like to be disabled and be blind.”

There are over two million people in the UK living with sight loss but Dave is among the 2% who have no vision whatsoever - with the ECHO being the last paper he read before he lost his sight. He said because of this he can’t tell if it is night or day, can look directly at the sun and a torch can be right in front of him and he wouldn’t be able to tell.

Dave said during his time at home he had a “spark of inspiration”. What came from this epiphany was his charity, Daisy Inclusive UK. The Everton-based charity is set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in October with a gala dinner - having helped thousands of people since its inception.

The foundation prides itself on aiding those with disabilities across the spectrum as well as providing training for organisations to understand and support those with disabilities.

Dave said: “Our charity ball at The Delta Hotel is a fantastic platform for us to celebrate the impact that we have had on the lives of disabled people and their families over the last two decades.

“I’m proud of the work that we have done and continue to do, with a sharp focus on improving the lives of our beneficiaries. It is a great opportunity for us to engage with business leaders in the area, who perhaps don’t know who we are, and we would love to explain more about the Daisy story.”

Tickets for the Saturday, October 19 event can be bought through the charity.