A blind grandad beams as his beloved tactile bulldog drinks trolley is restored on BBC1’s The Repair Shop after he accidentally broke it.
Nigel Garry, 64, lost his sight 45 years ago, and tactile objects have since brought him a lot of joy. He and wife Karen bought the 2ft trolley two decades ago. He says: “We found him in a small shop and I fell in love with him straight away as I started to feel all the tactile pieces on him. We call him Bulldog Boozy Barman.”
In a suit and monocle, Bulldog would stand obediently by Nigel’s side holding a drinks tray for his gin and tonic. But after moving house, Nigel – unfamiliar with his new surroundings – walked into Bulldog and knocked him over, leaving him missing an ear and with a major crack down his back.
He says: “It brought tears to my eyes. I love him to bits and I was so devastated that I was going to put him in the bin.” But Karen, 64, asked The Repair Shop to help save him. And in emotional scenes to air on BBC1 tonight, expert Kirsten Ramsay restores him to his former glory.
Nigel says: “This textured table has brought me so much pleasure. They did a fantastic job. He’s so tactile that I do get a lot out of him. I have my hand on him all the time.”
Nigel was a newlywed of 19 when his sight went without warning as he packed wedding presents at his mum’s house. He says: “I went from perfect sight to nothing. I was extremely frightened.”
He went to his GP and optician but was “sent away with eye ointment when alarm bells should have rung.” He had developed optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerves that carry messages from the eyes to the brain.
After misdiagnosis and delays to treatment he was left completely blind. Nigel of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, has since devoted his life to helping the blind and visually impaired as a volunteer for three national charities.
And in 2017 he and Karen set up a small charity, North Wales Accessible Holidays For Blind and Visually Impaired. He says: “Run entirely by volunteers, it’s transformed the lives of so many people. We want to put smiles on people’s faces and make memories.”
