I have spent nearly the whole of my adult life working with children with disabilities and their families and it has never ceased to amaze me how courageously these children engage with life. This is the story of Jenny, a nine-year-old girl, who was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa - more commonly known as tunnel vision. This disease, which involves a gradual loss of peripheral vision, may lead to blindness. In Jenny’s case, the deterioration was very swift.

It was Sports Day and as Jenny’s teacher, knowing how little she could see, I was concerned that we find an event in which she could take part and not be severely disadvantaged. With her agreement, it was decided that she enter for “Bunny Hops over a Bench”. The idea was that each child should do 20 hops - placing their hands on the bench and hopping from side to side of it. The winner was the one who did it in the shortest time. We practised some weeks before, and she seemed to cope very well. On the day, however, her vision seemed even worse than usual. When the event started, I realised that she couldn’t estimate how high she would have to jump to clear the bench. The result was that almost every time, instead of clearing the bench, she knocked her foot on it. My immediate reaction was to stop her, but I noticed the determination on her face and I stayed where I was. When the other children had finished, no-one moved. The whole school just sat watching Jenny as she doggedly jumped over the bench, more often than not, banging her foot, until she had completed the 20 hops. When she’d finished there was an immediate outburst of clapping and cheering from staff and pupils alike. The smile on her face I will never forget.

The lesson I learnt from this courageous little girl was to look beyond disability and to see the person first - a lesson, which Jenny so graphically illustrated to all who watched her.

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