Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BLIND TEEN TIERNAN ON THE RIGHT PATH..
Family wins fight for special paving near home
A VISUALLY impaired teenager can now walk to the shops on his own after a two-year fight for special paving near his home.
Tiernan Devine was born at 24 weeks and spent the first three months of his life on a ventilator.
Doctors soon discovered he had an eye condition called retinopathy of prematurity.
It meant he had no vision in one eye and only partial sight in the other. Today, he has no useful vision although he does have some light perception.
Guide Dogs NI Habilitation Specialist Pete Lock has been working with Tiernan, 14, for the past four years, slowly building up his confidence and his mobility.
Part of this involved getting tactile “blister” paving installed around his home in Norglen, West Belfast, so he can walk independently to the post box and local shops using his long cane.
After around two years of lobbying by Guide Dogs NI and local MLA Gerry Carroll, the paving has been installed by the Department of Infrastructure and the Devine family are delighted with the result. Tiernan said: “Before, I didn’t feel very independent but now I can go to the shops by myself which makes life much easier.
“When I get there, the staff help me find the things I need.
“The first time I did the route alone I was pretty impressed with myself. I called Pete to tell him the news.”
Pete said: “I’ll admit I was quite emotional when I got the phone call from Tiernan.
“We all have hard days at work but when you hear about a young person really making strides in their independence it makes it all worthwhile.”
And Tiernan’s mum Therese added: “His gran and I were nearly crying watching him do it by himself – it was a proud moment.
“Now he’s faster going to the shop than the rest of us.
“He can even manage to scoff a chocolate eclair in record time on his way back.”
Challenges remain for Tiernan including the ongoing issue of pavement parking in his local area.
His dad Brian said people parking up on top of the tactile paving or on the footpath, making it too narrow to pass by, were hindering his son.
He added: “It’s not just Tiernan it affects, I’ve seen loads of mums with prams have to walk on the road. “Sometimes cars are left like that for days on end – it’s just ridiculous.”
Tiernan is looking forward to finishing up school next month, with plans to learn how to swim over the summer holidays.
And the tactile paving also leads to the local bus stop so the world is his oyster.
Therese said: “It’s an exciting time for Tiernan. We’re so proud of him.”
There are seven different types of tactile paving, the most common of which has raised bumps to mark corners and crossing points, providing key information to people with sight loss.
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