Richard Lane in Bergerac

Available for over a year

Journalist Richard Lane has now spent half his life as a blind person. He recently turned fifty and decided to take a year out with his wife Liz, to live in rural SW France in the Perigord, to take stock on his life, particularly in relation to his blindness. Peter White went to France to meet Richard and talk to him about some of the issues he is trying to sort out. He told Peter that even though he's now been blind for twenty five years, he still has occasional days when he finds his blindness hard to deal with. Peter asks Richard questions about his reasons for taking himself out of his comfort zone, by living in a remote area, without access to public transport, or amenities, thereby removing many of the things which most blind people would consider desirable to make life easier to live independently. Richard says his time in France has allowed him some perspective on his sight loss - to focus on what he can do, rather than the things he can't; to spend time developing his passions - playing the violin and cooking; and to remember that sight loss was, for him, not the end of the road but the start of a new journey. Producer: Cheryl Gabriel Presenter: Peter White.