Army veteran who had to give up everything he worked for does something incredible
Phil Lewis has a life-changing condition meaning he could no longer work or drive and said it has had 'devastating' impact on his life
Phil Lewis
(Image: Alison Lewis )
For Phil Lewis, vision loss took away everything he had worked for his entire life. Although he knew the day was coming, with a hereditary condition affecting his grandparents, mother and siblings, the moment it happened was not any easier.
In 2020, coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic, the 61-year-old's condition retinitis pigmentosa, which makes cells in the retina break down slowly over time, causing vision loss, forced him to stop work.
He has entirely lost his side vision and all he can see is directly in front of him, but it is very limited, only in dark and light shades, just allowing him to manoeuvre himself around.
He said: "I was first diagnosed with my sight loss when I served in the Royal Engineers at about 21-22 years old. It was night vision that was the issue. I was devastated when I had to come out of the army, It was my career path, and I was only in it for four years, but I did my apprenticeship as carpenter and joiner, in the army, and luckily I came out and carried on with my trade.
"At that point, I thought my eyesight was fine, but it wasn't good enough to be in the military.
"It was fine to work, and I carried on with my trade during my working life for the next 35 years, self-employed with my company Tradesmen Carpentry Services, but it very gradually got worse over the years. It didn't really affect me at all until 2020. I had to stop then, because it was getting dangerous with scaffolding and roofs and things, it was a bit hairy.
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"I didn't have a choice, and it was devastating as I loved my job and my work and everything I had worked for, I had to just give up and stop overnight. I had no intention of stopping. I'd still be working today if I could.
"My grandparents had it, and my mother had it, my two brothers and two sisters have got it as well. I think that's why I worked so much, and worked so hard, knowing that when I get older I wasn't going to be able to support myself. I needed to work as hard as I could and get everything done up until the point I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. Unfortunately, it's come a bit quicker than I anticipated.
"The first three and a half years after I finished was depressing, it knocked my confidence and I lost the motivation to do anything as well. I couldn't drive or anything so it was awkward getting out and about."
In 2023, Mr Lewis took the decision to reach out for help from Blind Veterans UK, a not-for-profit organisation looking to support anyone who has served in the Armed Forces or who has done national service and is now living with significant sight loss.
The Fforestfach, Swansea resident, began receiving support from them, including the use of a cane for which he had training, which proved to be a game-changer for him.
"I had been at a bit of a loss really as to what to do next," he said.
"I by chance had a conversation with the optician that I had been in the army, and he mentioned the Blind Veterans, and I thought I'd give it a go and see what they could offer, and they have been fantastic.
"They came to see me and there was a bit of an assessment as to what I used to do and where I was in life. They couldn't believe I didn't have a cane and they got some pretty much straight away. They gave me a bit of cane training and stuff, and it gave me my confidence to get back out again.
"Up until that point, I'd been walking into people and getting into arguments all the time, but once I started using the cane properly, it changed my life and gave me confidence to get out there and do things again.
"I've got good mates who come here every week and we go out walking together, which has been a real boost. I'm married and I've got three daughters and six grandkids so it keeps me busy. I do the school runs every day, it all helps, and feels you have a bit of worth to help out."
Mr Lewis said he was keen to do something to give back to the charity which supported him when he most needed it. Together with his friends Chris Hannon and Colin Barry, as well as Sam Thomas who works as a rehabilitation officer for the visually impaired at the charity, he set off on an ambitious 26-mile walk along the Gower coast to raise £1,000 for the good cause, as part of its armed forces month campaign, which calls on people to organise activities to celebrate and commemorate key dates in the month of June.
Mr Lewis together with Chris Hannon, Colin Barry and Sam Thomas at the Big Apple in Mumbles
(Image: Alison Lewis )
Mr Lewis said: "These three men have been a great support to me throughout my sight loss journey and have helped me to prepare for this challenge. I couldn't have done it without them.
'The terrain on the route was extremely challenging; only the last four miles of the coastal path was an actual proper pathway. The rest was more like a coastal climb than a coastal walk!
'Sam was my guide during the walk. It must have been as exhausting for him as it was for me, if not more so. Sam gave me constant instructions in the tricky sections and had to watch my steps as well as his own. We had planned to go for a pint when we finished, but instead we all went home to bed.'
The men taking part in the challenge
(Image: Alison Lewis )
Mr Thomas added: 'When I first met Phil, he was unable to travel independently around his local area and relied on his family when getting around. He required skills that would enable him to feel safe and confident.
'We began with short routes around the park and eventually started branching into unfamiliar areas. With the use of the long cane and the skills he learnt he soon felt confident with asking for support and relying on his own skills to walk longer and more complicated routes.
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'Phil has proved that sight loss does not prevent you from reaching your potential. He's met stumbling blocks on the way but has always found solutions to meeting his goals. It was an honour to take part in this walk with Phil. I have learnt so much in the short time we have worked together and am looking forward to our next challenge.'
If you would like to raise funds for the charity you can learn more on how to do so by clicking here.
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Telegraph
23-07-2025
- Telegraph
I lost almost 3st in a year with fat jabs. It's not cheating
I feel reborn. I've been trying to think of a less dramatic way of saying it, but it's my birthday this week and I have acquired a delightful new lease of life in my 60s, so reborn is the right word. It's almost a year since I wrote in these pages that I was starting Mounjaro (tirzepatide), one of the new weight loss drugs that is revolutionising medical science essentially by sending a signal to your brain to tell it you are full. How has that gone? Well, on a purely practical level, I am no longer carrying an excess 38lb around with me – not far off what Royal Engineers must bear on their backs to complete an eight-mile ruck march in two hours. I was carrying my load 24 hours a day, on a small frame and without a soldier's brawn (we'll come to muscle in a minute). I can only offer my sincere apologies to my hips and knees – since drastically taking the pressure off them, all the pain I was experiencing has vanished. For those who have never struggled with their weight, as millions of us do, Mounjaro and Ozempic (semaglutide, a diabetes drug which can be used off-label for weight loss) are 'cheating'. Just jab fatty's little helper into your thigh once a week and, according to certain critics, it will magic away the pounds without the penitence and self-denial that sections of society appear to feel the fat owe to the thin. While 'fat-shaming' is now frowned upon (although people judge the obese all the time, of course they do), the media can be snarky about those who take medicine to help them slim down. They're not the only ones. 'You really don't want to lose any more,' your thinnest friend will advise you. It's always the slimmest friends who have the greatest difficulty watching you become a healthy size – as if they count on you to be the fat one, and feel betrayed when you start attracting some of the admiring attention that should belong to them, obviously. That's why many people who are 'on the pens', particularly women, I suspect, keep it a secret, even from their partners. They are scared of being seen as weak-willed and feeble. It is somehow shameful to take a weight-loss drug in a way it is not shameful to take statins, metformin or other drugs that become necessary when you are – yes – overweight. Try to make sense of that double standard if you can. Well, it's nobody's business, and anyway I'm far too happy with my new self to care what anyone thinks, but my transformation has taken persistence and hard work. Accelerated weight loss equals rapid muscle wastage, and I can't afford to lose any muscle at my age. Taking advantage of your new, suppressed appetite and shrunken stomach, it would be perfectly possible to exist on a pain au chocolat and a packet of crisps a day (some do), but you would rapidly become ill and malnourished. Your hair would fall out (one of the commonly cited side-effects of Mounjaro). I hired an exceptional personal trainer, James Wilkinson, from my local gym in Saffron Walden, and we set out on a mission to replace any muscle that was wasting away. Lifting weights at least twice a week, I was under orders to eat as much protein as I could. Cottage cheese was my new best friend. A sentence I never hoped to write. 'You were as weak as a kitten when we started,' James often reminded me when I was squashed and protesting loudly in a medieval leg-press contraption known (not fondly) as the 'bacon-slicer'. I've had more dignified smear tests. A couple of months ago, I texted James in a panic saying that my legs were suddenly looking 'really weird' and a bit like stringy hams. What could be wrong? 'Er, that's called muscle, Allison,' said the trainer. (He has kept his other clients entertained with reports of my cluelessness ever since.) Reader, I am an anatomical drawing! 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'It's not just about weight,' he told me, 'the drugs reduce visceral fat, improve blood sugar control and lower the risk of heart disease.' Basically, the midlife 'midriff bulge' that the much-missed Terry Wogan used to tease Radio Two listeners about doesn't just make it an ordeal to do up a zip; it increases your risk profile for all the major Nasties. Still, I hesitated. For months. Truth be told, I am secretly one of those judgmental, get-a-grip-woman, just-eat-less puritans I can't stand. I had lost weight before by myself, so I could do it, couldn't I? 'Yes, but you keep putting it back on again,' said the doctor, jabbing at my notes which charted the dizzy highs and self-loathing lows of my constant battle to shed the pounds since having two implausibly large babies in the late Nineties. (Hoovering up leftover chicken nuggets from kids' teas solidified that 'baby weight' into a permanent malaise.) 'The drugs offer powerful, reliable results where diets and willpower often fail,' Rob said. 'That doesn't mean they should replace a healthy lifestyle, but they can give people the head start they need to reclaim their health.' Feeling pretty low by that point, both physically and mentally, I gave in and signed up with Dr Claire Gillvray, who runs a wellbeing and weight loss clinic in Cambridge. Claire both supplies Mounjaro and offers support to patients, including advice on diet and exercise classes. It was certainly worth the extra expense in the first few months when I bombarded her with queries. I began on the 2.5mg starting dose and felt it take effect within hours, although many people don't experience that until a larger injection. The 'food noise' in my brain that would see me rustling in the kitchen cupboards for something sweet an hour after I'd eaten dinner was stilled. I was elated when I lost 5lb in the first fortnight, but thereafter progress was slow and steady. Sometimes a pound a week, sometimes nothing at all. In the entry for Friday, Sept 13, when I was stuck at 11.7st, I drew a sad face with a downturned mouth. On Sunday, Sept 29, I was 11.1st – 'Lost 1 1/4lb this week, too slow,' I scribbled furiously. 'Not enough exercise?!!' Frequently, I would vent my frustration in texts to Dr Claire, who would calmly reply that 'things are changing internally and remember you are doing this for your long-term health.' Yes, yes, marvellous to think my poor old liver is less fatty, but I want to LOSE WEIGHT, dammit! It occurred to me that, counterintuitively, I was eating too little, so I increased my daily calories a bit. It helped. At the seven-week point, on Oct 4, a moment of triumph: 'Into the ten's!' I had dropped below 11st. People are understandably impatient to see the weight drop off. The mistake many make is increasing the dose too quickly, which can lead to those unpleasant side effects the media never stops printing scare stories about. (Boris Johnson reported that he was shedding 4 or 5lb a week on Ozempic when he started to dread the injections because they were making him feel ill. 'One minute I would be fine, and the next minute I would be talking to Ralph on the big white phone; and I am afraid that I decided that I couldn't go on.' I recommend Boris gives it another go with more user-friendly Mounjaro.) I have only ever gone up to 5mg, the second-lowest dose, and the only problems I've had are with constipation (magnesium tablets at night and a bit more fibre fixed that) and the ghastly 'sulphur burps' which make your mouth fill up with the noxious fumes from a stinky volcano. (I had an attack of the Etna reflux at a smart London dinner and spent the evening trying not to breathe out lest I horrify my famous neighbours on either side.) Mounjaro for me has always been a slender handrail to hold onto as I try to reset my dysfunctional relationship with food. 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'I want to use it with my patients to get them ready for hip surgery and those with mental health problems to prevent them developing metabolic syndrome and dying 20 years younger than they should, but that unfortunately feels like years away.' Claire Gillvray, Rob Howlett and James 'See, I told you you could lift it' Wilkinson have been my guides on this incredible journey. 'You've changed your life around, Allison,' Claire says, 'gained healthy life years, but it has not just been about the injection. You have worked really hard. I'm proud of you.' If I can do it, so can you. I had no interest in exercise, and my main food group was paprika Pringles. Today, I'm lifting two-and-a-half times the weight I could a year ago and, every morning, I sprinkle on my Greek yogurt a protein-rich sawdust that rightly belongs on the floor of a gerbil cage. It's worth it because zips do up without protest, my triglycerides are world class and I'm not going to get dementia. 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BBC News
20-06-2025
- BBC News
Isle of Man's veteran's hand crank challenge to 'inspire others'
An army veteran who completed the equivalent distance of the Isle of Man's Parish Walk on a hand crank machine after losing the use of his legs said he hoped his efforts would "inspire others".Mike Ryan said he decided to complete the 85-mile (137km) challenge at the National Sports Centre (NSC) as the event's route would be "impossible" in a wheelchair due to the said he had decided to take on the venture, which he completed in just over six hours, to "surprise" himself and demonstrate to others "I am more than what you see".Mr Ryan said: "It is easy for people to look at people with a disability and think they are 50% of the next person... give me an option to be judged on a level playing field and I won't come last." The former member of the Royal Engineers said he decided to use the hand crank machine, which is designed to improve upper body fitness, because it was the only piece of exercise equipment he could use that registered a distance. Mr Ryan, who served in the British Army between 1994 and 2001 and did tours of Germany, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, said he broke his legs in more than 140 places over a three year was referred to the NSC by the island's mental health services due to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after leaving military service. Attending the gym sessions "helps me get out of the house more and combat stress", he said he had "jokingly" asked to sign up for the Parish Walk Challenge at the NSC, which sees entrants complete the distance of the walk on a variety of gym equipment, but had then taken it on in receiving a medal for completing the task, he said although it was different from the annual walk itself it was no less of an achievement."I know it is not the same as completing the Parish Walk, but I would say to anyone to go and do 85 miles in a day is challenging, even if it is not the same challenge," he others with PTSD to seek help, he said: "Don't suffer in silence like I did for a few years."Completing the challenge in six hours and 15 minutes, Mr Ryan raised about £650 for local charity Bridge the Gap, which aims to help young people with long-term health conditions. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Wales Online
12-06-2025
- Wales Online
Army veteran who had to give up everything he worked for does something incredible
Army veteran who had to give up everything he worked for does something incredible Phil Lewis has a life-changing condition meaning he could no longer work or drive and said it has had 'devastating' impact on his life Phil Lewis (Image: Alison Lewis ) For Phil Lewis, vision loss took away everything he had worked for his entire life. Although he knew the day was coming, with a hereditary condition affecting his grandparents, mother and siblings, the moment it happened was not any easier. In 2020, coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic, the 61-year-old's condition retinitis pigmentosa, which makes cells in the retina break down slowly over time, causing vision loss, forced him to stop work. He has entirely lost his side vision and all he can see is directly in front of him, but it is very limited, only in dark and light shades, just allowing him to manoeuvre himself around. He said: "I was first diagnosed with my sight loss when I served in the Royal Engineers at about 21-22 years old. It was night vision that was the issue. I was devastated when I had to come out of the army, It was my career path, and I was only in it for four years, but I did my apprenticeship as carpenter and joiner, in the army, and luckily I came out and carried on with my trade. "At that point, I thought my eyesight was fine, but it wasn't good enough to be in the military. "It was fine to work, and I carried on with my trade during my working life for the next 35 years, self-employed with my company Tradesmen Carpentry Services, but it very gradually got worse over the years. It didn't really affect me at all until 2020. I had to stop then, because it was getting dangerous with scaffolding and roofs and things, it was a bit hairy. Article continues below "I didn't have a choice, and it was devastating as I loved my job and my work and everything I had worked for, I had to just give up and stop overnight. I had no intention of stopping. I'd still be working today if I could. "My grandparents had it, and my mother had it, my two brothers and two sisters have got it as well. I think that's why I worked so much, and worked so hard, knowing that when I get older I wasn't going to be able to support myself. I needed to work as hard as I could and get everything done up until the point I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. Unfortunately, it's come a bit quicker than I anticipated. "The first three and a half years after I finished was depressing, it knocked my confidence and I lost the motivation to do anything as well. I couldn't drive or anything so it was awkward getting out and about." In 2023, Mr Lewis took the decision to reach out for help from Blind Veterans UK, a not-for-profit organisation looking to support anyone who has served in the Armed Forces or who has done national service and is now living with significant sight loss. The Fforestfach, Swansea resident, began receiving support from them, including the use of a cane for which he had training, which proved to be a game-changer for him. "I had been at a bit of a loss really as to what to do next," he said. "I by chance had a conversation with the optician that I had been in the army, and he mentioned the Blind Veterans, and I thought I'd give it a go and see what they could offer, and they have been fantastic. "They came to see me and there was a bit of an assessment as to what I used to do and where I was in life. They couldn't believe I didn't have a cane and they got some pretty much straight away. They gave me a bit of cane training and stuff, and it gave me my confidence to get back out again. "Up until that point, I'd been walking into people and getting into arguments all the time, but once I started using the cane properly, it changed my life and gave me confidence to get out there and do things again. "I've got good mates who come here every week and we go out walking together, which has been a real boost. I'm married and I've got three daughters and six grandkids so it keeps me busy. I do the school runs every day, it all helps, and feels you have a bit of worth to help out." Mr Lewis said he was keen to do something to give back to the charity which supported him when he most needed it. Together with his friends Chris Hannon and Colin Barry, as well as Sam Thomas who works as a rehabilitation officer for the visually impaired at the charity, he set off on an ambitious 26-mile walk along the Gower coast to raise £1,000 for the good cause, as part of its armed forces month campaign, which calls on people to organise activities to celebrate and commemorate key dates in the month of June. Mr Lewis together with Chris Hannon, Colin Barry and Sam Thomas at the Big Apple in Mumbles (Image: Alison Lewis ) Mr Lewis said: "These three men have been a great support to me throughout my sight loss journey and have helped me to prepare for this challenge. I couldn't have done it without them. 'The terrain on the route was extremely challenging; only the last four miles of the coastal path was an actual proper pathway. The rest was more like a coastal climb than a coastal walk! 'Sam was my guide during the walk. It must have been as exhausting for him as it was for me, if not more so. Sam gave me constant instructions in the tricky sections and had to watch my steps as well as his own. We had planned to go for a pint when we finished, but instead we all went home to bed.' The men taking part in the challenge (Image: Alison Lewis ) Mr Thomas added: 'When I first met Phil, he was unable to travel independently around his local area and relied on his family when getting around. He required skills that would enable him to feel safe and confident. 'We began with short routes around the park and eventually started branching into unfamiliar areas. With the use of the long cane and the skills he learnt he soon felt confident with asking for support and relying on his own skills to walk longer and more complicated routes. Article continues below 'Phil has proved that sight loss does not prevent you from reaching your potential. He's met stumbling blocks on the way but has always found solutions to meeting his goals. It was an honour to take part in this walk with Phil. I have learnt so much in the short time we have worked together and am looking forward to our next challenge.' If you would like to raise funds for the charity you can learn more on how to do so by clicking here.
