Can you imagine losing your senses?

Watching The Secret Millionaire and it's a blind woman who's a millionaire, giving money away to blind projects. But, as a couple of you know, my eyesight is really bad. Without my glasses I can virtually see nothing, and I couldn't leave the house and come back alive. I'd be terrified to leave the house without my glasses. But imagine what it's like to be totally blind. We all label a blind person in our minds when we see one and give them a wide berth like they're rigged with explosives or something. But they're just people who can't see. They're 100% people, the same as sighted people, but stuck with all their challenges and also the labels people put on them in society. I feel like I should be totally silent when I walk past a blind person in the street. I've been warned of signs to look for that could prove fatal to my sight and told to get to hospital if I ever have them, but I never thought about it seriously. It would be like being born again to lose your sight. You'd be in a whole new world.

Watching The Secret Millionaire and it's a blind woman who's a millionaire, giving money away to blind projects. But, as a couple of you know, my eyesight is really bad. Without my glasses I can virtually see nothing, and I couldn't leave the house and come back alive. I'd be terrified to leave the house without my glasses. But imagine what it's like to be totally blind. We all label a blind person in our minds when we see one and give them a wide berth like they're rigged with explosives or something. But they're just people who can't see. They're 100% people, the same as sighted people, but stuck with all their challenges and also the labels people put on them in society. I feel like I should be totally silent when I walk past a blind person in the street. I've been warned of signs to look for that could prove fatal to my sight and told to get to hospital if I ever have them, but I never thought about it seriously. It would be like being born again to lose your sight. You'd be in a whole new world.

Do we? Can't say I do mate. I've helped two different blind people across the road while I was out working.

You're right though. Losing any of your senses would be ridiculously hard to deal with for a long amount of time in my opinion. The thought of it gives me shudders. Sometimes it's worth thinking of things like this when you think your life is sh*t.

This definitely deserves it's own thread I reckon, by the way.

Watching The Secret Millionaire and it's a blind woman who's a millionaire, giving money away to blind projects. But, as a couple of you know, my eyesight is really bad. Without my glasses I can virtually see nothing, and I couldn't leave the house and come back alive. I'd be terrified to leave the house without my glasses. But imagine what it's like to be totally blind. We all label a blind person in our minds when we see one and give them a wide berth like they're rigged with explosives or something. But they're just people who can't see. They're 100% people, the same as sighted people, but stuck with all their challenges and also the labels people put on them in society. I feel like I should be totally silent when I walk past a blind person in the street. I've been warned of signs to look for that could prove fatal to my sight and told to get to hospital if I ever have them, but I never thought about it seriously. It would be like being born again to lose your sight. You'd be in a whole new world.

To be honest mate, almost everybody has that problem. Society wants everybody to fit into a nice neat box so gives everybody some tag or label. It's just the world we're living in, we have to be pigeon holed.

Agree though, must be difficult to live without any of your senses. But I suppose you get used to it and hope people or society accept you without patronising you.  

Do we?

Yep. I bet you thought, 'Do they want me to offer help? Or will they be offended?'

Really emotional after watching that. It always gets me that programme though, but I remember on one of the other ones there was a Scottish fella who'd lost his sight a couple of years before and was very defensive about being helped. It's difficult, because we don't know if someone wants to be helped. It could be really offensive to them to be offered. I'm not being funny though, just playing devil's advocate!

That would be terrifying though to lose one of your senses, especially something like your sight. It would totally F**k up everything and would probably make me think twice about carrying on although that could be a bit of a drastic thought.

That would be terrifying though to lose one of your senses, especially something like your sight. It would totally f**k up everything and would probably make me think twice about carrying on although that could be a bit of a drastic thought.

No mate. It would be like being reborn, as I said. You'd have to re-learn how to live and function. I couldn't imagine ever having a job or leaving the house if I was blind.

I don't reckon I'd mind too much being deaf though.

I understood what you meant.

But having to do everything all over again especially when you are no longer self-reliant would probably be too demoralising for me.

Personal thought.

I understood what you meant.

But having to do everything all over again especially when you are no longer self-reliant would probably be too demoralising for me.

Personal thought.

I agree mate. But I think the strength of those around you who love you would be enough to make your heart swell to know just how much people love you and how they'd help you re-adjust.

I agree mate. But I think the strength of those around you who love you would be enough to make your heart swell to know just how much people love you and how they'd help you re-adjust.

Very true indeed my friend.

Aussie comedy couple Hamish and Andy went a weekend with one losing their sight, and one losing their hearing. One of them broke down with an anxiety attack, which says it all.

I don't know how i would survive it.

Not quite full scale loss of sight, but four Christmases ago, I ended up in casualty.  Couldn't open my eyes, any sort of light was causing me immeasurable pain.  Spent four of the most miserable days of my life living in the dark and another week wearing sun glasses even though I worked nights. Found out I had a condition called Iritis, it can flare up any time, no warning & thankfully I've not had an attack in 13 months, because it just stops my life dead in its tracks, every time.

Sorry to hear that, Roddenberry, sounds terrible.

I think we all take our 'Senses' for granted, it would be terrible to lose any one of them, but I think losing your sight would be by far the worse.

It would be horrible to lose any of our senses. I really feel for people who are blind, especially older people. I was in a shop last xmas and there was a blind women who wanted a card for her daughter, she asked me if I would help and I spent about 20 mins picking out different cards and telling her what was on them and what they said, she was the nicest lady and I felt great being able to help her. That got me thinking about how much we take our senses for granted. We do things everyday that we don't think twice about while someone else struggles to do it or can't do it at all.

My mum's friend went blind a few years ago and her house got broken into, she's so brave though, she heard something in the living room, she marched out and said 'Who's there? Get out', when they brushed passed her she reached her hands out and from that could tell the police what height the guy was and what material jumper he had on. Thankfully she wasn't hurt and not much had been taken. I don't think I would be able to cope if I was blind, and especially put in a situation like that. It crazy how much we take such important things for granted.

Having read some of the knee-jerking in The Kop over the past few months it's fairly clear that quite a lot of people have dispensed with common sense.

There should be plenty of people able to analyse this topic.

I think we all take our 'Senses' for granted, it would be terrible to lose any one of them, but I think losing your sight would be by far the worse.

Clearly it's different for someone who is born blind as opposed to somebody who becomes blind.  I'd like to think during our lifetime science will pull through on this one.

My friend's mom lost her sense of smell when she caught the flu. I think of all the senses, smell is the one we take for granted the most.

I think of all the senses, smell is the one we take for granted the most.

Not if you've smelt John Lawler's farts.

I think losing any of your senses is not as bad as never having had them.

At least if you have had all your senses then lost, say your sight, you can still "see" things from memory.  But to have never seen anything, ever, that must be really terrible.

Yep. I bet you thought, 'Do they want me to offer help? Or will they be offended?'

Really emotional after watching that. It always gets me that programme though, but I remember on one of the other ones there was a Scottish fella who'd lost his sight a couple of years before and was very defensive about being helped. It's difficult, because we don't know if someone wants to be helped. It could be really offensive to them to be offered. I'm not being funny though, just playing devil's advocate!

That is my thought exactly....I dont want to make an Issue out of opening doors for someone in a wheelchair, because they may have done it a million times or he may need help and is ashamed to ask for it. So, you're never sure.  I always open a door for someone coming in or out. In a wheelchair or not. I just consider it polite.

If i walk into a store and someone is behind me I either open the door, walk in and hold it open for the person behind me or open the door and let them pass.

I have a friend named Martin who has lost the gift of sight,he has gradually gone blind over the years but it has not swayed him from going to every game over the years.His sense of humour is superb and as a person you could not fault,what I do find sometimes is that people do find it hard to communicate with him and tend to shy away but once they get to know him well all I can say is it's great not just for him but for all who know him,I'll see him in the Arkles on Thursday for the Euro game and we just pick up where we left off, calling,sla**ing well you know the sort of stuff and besides all that he's great for getting the key to the toilet when your desperate for a pee!.No joking aside never be afraid to approach a blind person like I was they are no different to you or me.

I think losing any of your senses is not as bad as never having had them.

At least if you have had all your senses then lost, say your sight, you can still "see" things from memory.  But to have never seen anything, ever, that must be really terrible

Got to agree Debs but the whole concept of losing your sight is totally incomprehensible to somebody with the gift of sight.
I knew a lad whose brother was totally blind had been from birth, he lived on his own with a guide dog but sh*t did he like his ale - we'd go in the alehouse and he'd sit down with his dog and get the ale down his neck. He was dead sound and it's weird but I'd swear the lad had an enlightened sense of perception like he'd be onto your thought process and more or less pre empt your words, anyway like I say he used to get pissed up good style and we used to wind him up about being brethalysed in charge of a guide dog and get banned from opening dog food for 3 years.
It's true what they say when you lose a sense your body compensates by heightening other senses to an extent.