A rugby coach for an under-11s rugby team has told of how his sight loss has had a 'life-changing' impact on him.
Trevor Lee, 46, who trains the Guisborough team has central serous etinopathy and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - the leading cause of sight loss in the UK.
The former rugby player, who has been coaching the under-11s side for several years, said that despite his impairment, he is determined to continue coaching a "cracking group of kids."
Trevor was at work when he first noticed wavy lines and distortion, and after hospital tests, he was given the damning diagnosis.
Trevor Lee (Image: Supplied)
He said: "I was simply told to go away and look it up on Google.
"Thirteen years later, and I have this in both eyes with no central vision in my right eye."
He has had injections to stop leaking fluid in the back of his eyes but the treatment stopped when it was no longer effective.
Trevor, of Guisborough, said: "In the last five years it's really, really ramped up in my central vision and that has a much bigger impact on me, and has been difficult to deal with.
"I got to a point where I would cry, I used to cry in the shower because nobody could see me crying there.
"It was a daily ritual. I’d step in the shower and it would all come out.
"There was anger involved too, not at anyone but I was angry this was happening to me, that I have this condition and it all boils from frustration.
"It's born out of trying to make a cup of tea and missing your cup with the kettle, pouring your beer on the floor and bumping into stuff.
"There are frustrations in needing to make adjustments in your daily life, it’s almost childlike like having a tantrum, but you know, you can do things and you need to give yourself just that bit of time and space."
Trevor, who works in transport management, said he started to struggle more with the mental aspect of the condition when it started in his left eye too.
Through counselling, he was able to relate to someone who understood his condition, in what was a "life-changing" experience.
He said: "It’s only after you do something, you think 'why didn’t I do this before?
"Why did I have to get to a low point before reaching out?
"Counselling has made me more open-minded, more able to adapt and enabled me to open up and ask for help when I need it.
"It takes time to adjust and finding the Macular Society, which has shown me all of this stuff, has been life-changing, because nobody else was there to tell me anything about living with macular disease."
Trevor said that despite his impairment, he continues to enjoy coaching the under-11s side and will enjoy a trip to the Lake District with the team over the Easter weekend.
He said: "I struggle if I’m refereeing, and you have loads of kids around the ball.
"But, I’ve got other people helping out more this year, and that’s needed because we’re trying to teach them the game and the rules and it’s not fair if I can’t see properly.
"My impairment doesn’t mean I enjoy it any less.
"The teams are getting bigger, stronger and it’s a pleasure to coach a cracking group of kids."
The Guisborough under-11s will be heading to the Lake District for their tour in April, where they will face Wigton and Kendal.
