'I teach martial arts after nearly going blind'

A man says he was forced to leave his office job when his sight deteriorated due to an eye condition.

Dan Blythe, from Ashton, Bristol, was diagnosed with keratoconus as a child, a condition that deforms the cornea.

After seven surgeries including a cornea transplant, the 44-year-old said his vision was restored in one eye.

He now runs a martial arts business, which he said he used as a method of escape when his condition made parts of life harder.

Mr Blythe told BBC Radio Bristol that without treatment, his condition would have deteriorated to "full blindness," reaching a point where it wouldn't be safe for him to walk down the street.

As his condition worsened, he had to stop driving and required assistance from screen readers for desk jobs by his late 20s.

After 12 years, he was able to drive again and his confidence slowly returned.

Since his transplant, he said he can now recognise faces again which made teaching martial arts possible.

He teaches Kung Fu and Kickboxing, but is limited in what he can take part in due to the sensitivity of sustaining his cornea transplant.

Mr Blythe has actively fundraised for Fight for Sight, a leading charity dedicated to funding research into eye conditions.

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