A heart-warming new advert released by Guide Dogs shows the drastic changes faced by two brothers when one starts to lose his sight.
From sibling rivalry to the challenges of learning important life skills as his sight deteriorates, the advert revolves around the relationship of two brothers over three generations.
It shows how sight loss impacts both their lives in different ways, and how Guide Dogs - which is the UK's leading charity for helping people with sight loss - is there to support at every step, not just with their famous dogs.
But for brothers Josh and Luke Feehan, the advert is not just a story – it echoes their own lives growing up.
Josh, who stars in the advert alongside two others with lived experience of sight loss, was 15 when his sight began to deteriorate rapidly.
The 33-year-old from Telford, first had to sit at the front of the classroom to help him see better but then he started to lose his sight altogether.
He was diagnosed with Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), which means he has no central vision.
His older brother Luke, now 37, fortunately did not inherit the condition, which typically affects young men.
Recalling how life changed when Josh received his diagnosis, the father-of-two said: “When something like that happens it’s hard to come to terms with. I still wanted to remain one of the lads and still be part of everything that everyone else was doing.
“I couldn’t do everything, but I still tried to maintain a normal life. It brings challenges every day, but you just learn to cope with them and become more resilient over time.”
It is quite rare that someone like Josh was diagnosed at such a young age, and not just Josh’s, but his family’s world would change in a matter of months.
His mum, Jenny, blamed herself because the condition is genetic, despite not knowing it ran in the family, so it was a shock to all of them.
It was hard for Luke too. “As the older brother naturally you’re trying to sort of lead the way for him,” he says.
Josh also struggled to divulge his sight loss, and in 2019 he was knocked over by an electric car crossing a road in Birmingham.
He says: “I used to hide my sight loss. I was just about managing to get around, but it was getting harder. Especially if the sun was bright or when it was getting dark. But after I was hit by the car I was really embarrassed. It was a wake up call. I now had two young children, so I needed to keep them safe when I’m with them on my own.”
Josh called Guide Dogs and he was matched with Ringo in 2020. The charity helped the pair train and bond together.
Ringo stars alongside Josh in Guide Dogs’ newly released advert, titled ‘We Find The Way’.
The advert celebrates the many varieties of life changing support that the charity provides beyond the dogs themselves, including teaching people with sight loss life skills from kitchen and personal care skills, to personal safety and how to manage money.
Josh says: “Ringo transformed my life. Not just to me but my whole family. He gives them the confidence that I’m ok. To be honest, he has massively made a huge impact on my life, both in terms of my confidence in walking and navigating mistakes, but also about embracing my sight.
“I feel more confident talking about my sight loss and asking people for help. It’s just been life changing and just takes the stress away from you.”
His brother Luke has seen the difference too.
“People see Josh has a guide dog and go to help him, and it saves him feeling like he’s a burden to people,” Luke says.
“Before the guide dog, my friend’s a taxi driver, and he called me up a couple of times saying he’s picked Josh up because he’s on his phone walking on the road, he’s come off the curb somewhere and didn’t realise.”
Being partnered with a guide dog, and the life changing impact it can have is not the only way the brothers’ story is mirrored in the advert.
During Josh and Luke’s childhood they would often play pranks on one another. Josh once hid Luke’s shoes before his GCSE French exam, leading him to be two hours late and miss the test. Josh also had to have a tooth capped when a squabble over a FIFA game escalated a little too far.
Even now there are challenges however, and Josh, who works as head of internships at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, a national charity which supports blind and partially sighted people, is keen to speak out about the difficulties disabled people face.
Josh says: “There’s a lot of micro aggression. People say all the time ‘You don’t look blind’, but what does blind look like? It’s about educating people.
"I had it the other day when I was shopping with Ringo, and a woman approached me and was shocked that he was a guide dog.
“I think there needs to be more exposure and awareness of people with sight loss, especially those that aren’t totally blind, and also people who are younger as well. It can happen to anyone really.
“Just because someone has a disability, you can still have a joke and have a great relationship with the people in your life. We don’t want to be patronised, we want to be treated based on our abilities rather than what we can’t do.”
Ringo and guide dogs represent more than just help, but a beacon of not being limited and accepting help when needed.
Guide Dogs is the leading UK charity for people with sight loss and has been giving them back their power and confidence for over 90 years, supporting them at every stage to enable individuals to thrive in life, not just survive.
- The Guide Dogs new 'We Find The Way' advert is out now. To find out more and discover the life-enriching services provided by Guide Dogs, visit: guidedogs.org.uk/brothers
