Charities
What Happed After They Jumped Off The Tyne Bridge?
As a self-confessed northerner the Tyne Bridge is a somewhat familiar landmark to me. Having traversed its length many times by car, I can comment extensively on the surrounding views of Newcastle quayside - but I've never been to the top and looked down. At nearly 50 metres (165 feet) it's a substantial drop, especially if you're dangling over the edge on a piece of rope.
Story Highlights
- One Man's Story
- Dropping to Raise
- The Aftermath
The Condition
Macular degeneration is the single most common cause of blindness in the UK, although the term collectively describes a range of over 1500 conditions affecting the Macula. This small area on the Retina, the part of the eye which is receptive to light, is a mere 1.5mm in diameter but is wholly responsible for central vision.
The most common cases of Macular Degeneration (MD) are age-related. Numerous factors are known to increase the risk of being affected later in life, such as exposure to cigarette smoke, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Furthermore, conditions are often hereditary, being associated with a particular gene mutation.
There is however a whole other class of MD cases, known as Macular Dystrophy - which can affect people of all ages. Here the cause is genetic so although many cases are non-degenerative, the sufferer can be subject to a lack of central vision from a very early stage in life.
One Man's Story
The term blindness refers not only to a total lack of sight but to a range of ailments which render the sufferer visually impaired. For those of you capable of reading this article, the idea of not being able to distinguish the words on your computer screen, along with signs, faces and even colours, may be somewhat hard to imagine. Yet there are thousands in the UK who with nothing else to compare it to, consider this to be normal.
Event organiser - Peter Bennetts is registered blind and recently spent the night in his local Metro depot – not through an unhealthy passion for trains but simply because there was no announcement that his train was no longer in service.
Having had to cope with Macular Degeneration from the age of 14, Peter, 52, grew up at a time when there was very little support for sufferers of MD and has faced a multitude of difficulties throughout his teenage and adult life. His experience on the local Metro service illustrates the fact that there is still a common lack of awareness of the effects of MD.
Difficulties aside, Peter has accepted his condition and leads a diverse and successful life. He said: “There is no reason to pity me and I hate it when people do – blind and partially sighted people are capable of great things. Pity helps no-one.”
Raising awareness, not sympathy, is the key and Peter took drastic measures to achieve this goal. This is where the bridge comes in.
Dropping to Raise
On October 7, 2007 over 110 people jumped off the Tyne Bridge in a charity abseil, sponsored by Visualise, a company which manufactures equipment for the visually impaired.
Emily Clarke, who is also effected by Macular Dystrophy, has been a key component in the organisation of this event.
She said: “The scary part was having to let go but once you did it was great. The drop was about 40 or 50 meters but it only took a few minutes to get down. I am very proud that I can say I was a part of this.
“As a graduate in Genetics and as someone who lives with Macular Dystrophy, I'm obviously very passionate about raising funds for a worthwhile cause and I hope that between this and the Genetic Counselling I plan to pursue, we can change things for the better.”
Peter added: “We want to raise awareness of Macular disease - then we want to raise as much money as we can for research.”
The cost of the event was kindly covered by sponsorship from Visualise. The money raised by the event itself will go to the Macular Disease Society - the only organisation in the UK dedicated to helping sufferers of Macular Degeneration. Early indications show that the event is on track to raise the massive sum of approximately ten thousand pounds for this very worth while cause.
The Aftermath
At a rate of 16 people per hour, from 9am until 4pm, the pace was faster than initially expected. This meant that more people could take part which pushed the number of people jumping off the Tyne Bridge up, to a total of 110.
Representatives of Visualise, who attended the event were so impressed at the efficiency of the proceedings and at the enthusiasm of those involved, that they provided a celebratory meal for the 18 key jumpers afterwards.
Among reports of the event was a special television feature on the BBC's regional news broadcast for the North East. Alongside video footage of the abseil, Emily Clarke spoke about her involvement as well as living with Macular Dystrophy.
The collective exposure has undoubtedly raised awareness of Macular Disease, but the research is ongoing and needs your financial help to keep going. Hopefully one day this research will ensure that the only reason to stay overnight in a train depot, is an unhealthy train spotting obsession.
Help the Macular Disease Society by making a donation today.
-David Haw
