Claire Sisk, winner of the RNIB Best Social Media Impact of the Year category for her social media work on coping with blindness - Credit: Claire Sisk

Hertford's Claire Sisk, 42, whose life hacks for being blind are helping others and breaking down misconceptions, Julie Lucas writes

I had strokes aged 29, the second was in the October when the clocks changed. I was driving home from work and noticed I was struggling to see at night. I went to the opticians who sent me straight to A&E. The stroke had damaged the retina and they found multiple diseases. No one knew what to do, they said they had not seen anything like it. That was terrifying.

Because it is progressive, every day is different. Over the last 10 months I have been losing depth perception so I have had to relearn things. It’s like a puzzle where all the middle pieces are missing and great chunks of the border are gone, too. Some days the bit of vision I have can be quite clear, other days it’s foggy and I struggle.

One woman in the supermarket accused me of faking being blind because I was using a mobile. I think people react like that because when you say you are blind, it is automatically assumed you cannot see anything at all, but there are many variations of sight loss and what people can see. I then wondered if my friends thought I was faking it, so started posting videos to make everyone aware that we might be blind but we can still do things.

At first, I didn’t know what I was doing, but I found my niche and now have over 14,000 followers on Instagram. It’s been hugely positive. During Blind Awareness Month in October, every day I posted a video on how I tackle something - a little hack or my own unique way - and the videos started going viral. When making drinks, I have a level indicator that hooks over the glass so when the liquid hits the prongs it beeps and you can stop pouring. And using a cash machine, so many people don’t realise there’s an earphone jack so you can use it independently. I also named my white cane Rick the Stick, it’s been a massive thing in the blind community with many people naming their canes to overcome the embarrassment of using it - we’ve had Michael Caine, Candy Cane. I've had messages from younger kids saying ‘you make being blind cool.’ It makes me more motivated to want to keep going. I don’t take myself too seriously and use humour a lot to deal with my life, people seem to be able to relate to it.

Claire with Rick the Stick - Credit: Claire Sisk

I would love to help spread more awareness and to break down society’s misconceptions on what it means to live with sight loss. I didn’t have any expectations when I started, but now I am getting companies reaching out to me to give talks. I have also been approached by a large company to do consultancy work, and to make packaging more accessible. And have been to schools, including Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden to talk about equality. I want to keep showing people that blind and partially sighted people can do things and do them with a smile on their faces.  

Follow Claire on Instagram @canseecantsee_