Without Sight Scotland Veterans, I’d be sitting at home, feeling sorry for myself
Sponsored content Veteran on how sight charity helped him regain his confidence
Former soldier David Martin survived being on the frontline in Afghanistan, but the biggest fight of his life followed after he was involved in a near-fatal car crash.
David, 39, who was serving in the 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Black Watch), had been given permission from his Sergeant Major to attend the funeral of his Dad’s brother, so long as the corporal returned to duty four days later – but he never did.
On the drive to his uncle’s funeral, David hit black ice on the A9, lost control of his car, and careered into a tree. He needed to be air-lifted to hospital and soon was transferred to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow for life-saving surgery after sustaining a significant brain injury.
David’s recollection of the crash in January 2013 and aftermath are nonexistent, and when he came out of the coma, he was shocked to discover what had actually happened. Having lost 80% of his sight in his right eye, he struggled to read the piece of paper on the wall in front of him…
He said: “I stood up to try and walk – but I was paralysed down one side of my body! I was a PTI (physical training instructor) in the Army but now I couldn’t even walk. I didn’t know what had happened to me. At first I thought I had suffered an accident during a training exercise. I read, on an A4 piece of paper, ‘Hello. My name is David Martin. I was on the A9 and I hit a tree. I was in a car crash and I have been in a traumatic brain-injured coma’. I was totally shocked to read that.
“My platoon, was once given a PowerPoint presentation before going to Afghanistan that said that more soldiers are killed on the UK roads than in war zones such as Afghanistan. At the end of this we were all advised to drive carefully when going on home leave. I never thought to think about it until I was lying in a hospital bed – where I was nearly killed in Scotland.”
For the next two-and-a-half years, David stayed in hospital, as a patient at Graham Anderson House, in Glasgow, a specialist rehabilitation hospital for people with brain injuries. There he relearned life’s most basic skills, like talking, walking, cooking and setting up direct debits.
David, from Barrhead in East Renfrewshire, explained: “I had to learn how to engage in conversations again, and learn life skills like paying bills. It was a long process. I used to only say one-word answers to people if they asked me a question, but now I have found my voice again. I am so happy to be alive, that my heart is beating and I am engaging in activities again.”
For the former physical training instructor, who served for five-and-ahalf years in the Black Watch before his accident, it completely transformed his life. He admits: “I was so physical before, going to the gym constantly to build the guns. I used to love running and did the Dublin Marathon is 3 hours 36 minutes.”
However, during his recovery and to this day, David receives support from organisations like Sight Scotland Veterans. Initially established to help those who lost their sight in the First World War, Sight Scotland Veterans – which is the new name for the Scottish War Blinded – have provided practical and emotional support to servicemen and women who have not only lost their sight, but have visual impairment.
A common misconception is that you have to be blinded to qualify for help from Sight Scotland Veterans, and this was David’s belief too when a friend first told him about the good work of the charity.
The 39-year-old added: “I went fishing with a friend of mine and he said ‘can I ask a personal question? Did your accident cause any sight loss?’
“I looked at him closely and told him my right eye has 80% sight loss and the rest is blurred. Then he told me about Sight Scotland Veterans – at the time, I didn’t know this charity existed, so I contacted them and they sent an outreach worker out to do an assessment. I told them ‘I have one good eye and one bad eye, so do I qualify?’
“I didn’t think I would, but I was so glad I did. If you think you won’t qualify, don’t. Just contact them if there is any sight loss at all – anything. See if you qualify – you don’t want to be thinking ‘what if’.”
In the last few years, the charity has made a huge impact on David’s new life (and others) and he is a familiar face every week at Hawkhead Centre in Paisley. He said: “I am now going to the centre every Friday and I use the art room or IT suite. I am always doing activities now like kayaking, climbing and I have joined an angling club. I have got a GoPro camera now, so I will be recording videos and will ask the IT guy to help me download the footage.
“I now see my brain injury as a kind of blessing as I am now engaging in activities and meeting so many different people that I would not have ever thought about pre-brain injury.
“Without the centre, I would be sitting at home idle, feeling sorry for myself and thinking ‘why me’. Now I love talking and engaging in conversation with my friends here.”
And when it came to practical help, Sight Scotland Veterans was there for David too, setting up his Google Home, so it would remind him when to take his medication – at home and when he is out – to prevent seizures.
You may recognise David, for he is one of the stars of Sight Scotland Veteran’s touching television advert as he was chosen to front the charity’s latest media campaign. For Sight Scotland Veterans, there was no one better suited to this role because of the positivity David oozes. Mairi Sutherland, marketing manager at Sight Scotland Veterans said: “From the day I joined Sight Scotland Veterans, everyone in the team said ‘you have to meet David’. When I met him, I realised what a special person he was.”
And veteran John Reilly, who works at Sight Scotland Veterans’ Hawkhead Centre in Paisley, added: “I get quite emotional talking about David. He has so much warmth and positivity. If we are feeling down, you only need to look at him and your spirit will be lifted. David will do anything, he has such a buzz for life. He is a total ambassador for this organisation.”
David added: “It’s bizarre to think that I am an ambassador, but I am over the moon about hearing this.”
Established after the First World War to help soldiers who lost their sight on the frontline, Scottish War Blinded has not only changed its name (to Sight Scotland Veterans), but those it helps.
For many years the sight charity has been a lifeline to those with any form of sight loss or visual impairment, including some of the most common (macular degeneration and glaucoma), as long as they have served in the Armed Forces.
To find out more about what Sight Scotland Veterans can do for you, or a member of your family with sigh loss, visit: sightscotland.org uk