JillI lost her sight at the age of 19. She developed diabetic retinopathy which left her completely blind in the space of two weeks. Living with sudden sight loss as a teenager posed considerable difficulties for both Jill and her family.
She says "I felt that the world, which was about to become my oyster, suddenly became a tightly closed clam. I thought, ' What the hell am I going to do with my life now and how am I going to go about it?' "
Nowhere to turn
At the time, Jill was living in Southern Ireland, and had never met anyone who had lost their sight let alone heard of any organisations to help someone like her.
"The experience of sight loss left me feeling isolated and that I was a sighted person trapped inside this blind person's body. I hated it and often felt like my life was pointless - I just wanted it to end. My family were amazing, but they felt isolated, helpless and frustrated by the lack of information."
The turning point for Jill came when her 11 year old brother greeted her at the back door after she returned from hospital and her fourth eye operation.
"At that age he thought that when you went into hospital it was to fix something that was broken and asked he me, 'Can you see now?' I was heartbroken when I told him that I was never going to see again. He ran across the room and cuddled me so tightly but was silent. It was later that my mum told me that she saw his wee face over my shoulder, twisted in agony and mouth and eyes wide open and tears pouring down his cheeks as if in a silent scream. I decided then and there that my life was going to be OK, and that I was going to make my little brother so proud of me."
Rebuilding her life
Jill started to rebuild her life but was horrified by the reaction of potential employers to her sight loss. She was told that she would never do anything more than weave baskets or answer telephones for the rest of her life. In a bid to learn new skills she decided to get involved with hospital radio.
"To me it made sense that someone with no sight should be working with sound. It took me a further seven years of study, freelance work with newspapers and battling through job interviews where it was obvious that I was deemed unemployable, to secure my job with Insight Radio, Europe's first radio station for blind and partially sighted people."
Insight Radio
At first Jill wondered whether a radio station for blind and partially sighted people was a good idea. She says: "How wrong was I? Insight Radio has been a lifeline for me. It has given me back my feeling of self worth and my self esteem. Through trying to educate others about living with blindness, I have found out so many things about myself.
"I truly believe that if there had been a service like this when I was going through the trauma of sight loss, then life would have been so different for me, my family and my friends. For a start, I believe that the fight for information and the amount of red tape that we, as a family, had to battle our way through would have been significantly reduced. It would also have been somewhat comforting to know that there were others like me out there, living with blindness but getting on with their lives and trying to make a difference.
"Not only that, it would have been a great source of comfort for my mother in particular, who at the time, drove herself into the ground trying to make things easier for me as she couldn't bear to see her little girl struggle.
Working at Insight Radio
Jill gets huge satisfaction from presenting The Daley Lunch. "My prayer is that what we do at Insight Radio everyday, helps those who are going through sight loss. Even the tiniest little piece of information can make a huge difference to someone's life. If my show can help do that then my journey with blindness has not been in vain."
About Insight Radio
Insight Radio is the exciting new radio station from RNIB, broadcasting 24 hours a day. Staffed by a team of blind and partially sighted people, the Sony Award winning station communicates the needs, interests and aspirations of blind and partially sighted people throughout the UK.