SURPRISE REAL LIFE
Lucy Edwards, 28, from Birmingham, experienced the biggest day of her life in a very special way…
Sprawling out on the towel beneath me, I soaked up the sun.
With the sea air filling my nostrils, I was in paradise.
Jetting off to Tenerife in 2018 with my partner Ollie, 27, we’d saved up to go on our first luxury holiday together.
But as I laid on the beach, the sand glittering, I only half expected what was going to happen next.
As Ollie opened a small, hinged box, the sun bounced off a shining diamond.
‘Lucy, you’ve always been the one for me,’ he said.
And as he asked me the ultimate question, I threw my arms around his neck.
‘Yes!’ I exclaimed.
Only, as Ollie slipped the diamond ring onto my finger, I couldn’t see it.
I could only make out the brilliant light bouncing off it.
For me, the world was dark, and it had been since I was 17.
When I was four, I was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition, Incontinentia Pigmenti, which affected my skin, hair and teeth.
The doctors warned my mum Helen, now 57, that in later life, it might affect my eyesight, too.
As I grew older, my vision deteriorated and I lost sight in my right eye at the age of 11.
‘I’ve always got my other eye,’ I joked to Mum.
But when I was 17, I developed a cataract in my left eye and even used a white cane.
However, I still enjoyed all the hobbies I’d loved before, especially performing arts.
Regularly going to a local drama club, I spotted Ollie. His smile was infectious. He’s so lovely, I thought. Taking the leap that night, I messaged Ollie on Facebook and we immediately hit it off.
Ollie was always so accommodating – he made sure we could do life together.
After going in for retinal detachment surgery two months later, I woke up and everything was dark.
‘How many fingers am I holding up?’ the surgeon asked me.
‘Two?’ I guessed. I was wrong. A blood vessel had burst and my retina had come off, causing me to go blind, apart from a glimmer of light perception.
I’m never going to see again, I thought, heartbroken.
Over the next few years, I battled with depression.
However, walking my new guide dog, Olga, gave me a reason to get up every day.
Ollie even moved into a flat Mum and my dad Andy, 59, built for us next to their house.
He always brought me a cuppa and helped me find ingredients in the fridge until we integrated tech into our routine.
Using AI apps on my phone, they read food labels aloud and I used our Alexa to set timers, too.
But I knew very early on that Ollie was my soulmate.
‘If we can get th
