"We had to call the police to get to the bus station." Military with an eye injury on stereotypes about the blind

It's a weekday in a warm autumn. A narrow street in the old part of Lviv lives its usual unhurried life under the gentle sun. A saxophone musician is playing the saxophone song "Cheremshyna". At the outdoor tables of restaurants and cafes, people are finishing their lunch.

This almost meditative harmony is disturbed by a thud on the stone pavement. It is a young man in a military uniform. He holds a cane in his right hand and leads a girl under his left. He is missing both eyes.

"Thank you… Thank you!" - a passerby abruptly stops the man's path. The stranger falls to her knees in front of the veteran and kisses the hand with the cane.

"What are you doing? Calm down," the confused man responds. She thanks him again, gets up and walks on. A few minutes later, he tells us that this happens extremely rarely, but in general, he is very pleased to hear gratitude. It means that his choice to go to war as a volunteer was the right one.

A serious injury and the return of a loved one

I met with 29-year-old National Guard soldier Vitalii Veres to hear what we need to know about the problems of blind veterans.

In February 2023, Veres was seriously injured in Bakhmut. He has already undergone more than ten surgeries. The last ones were on his ears, as he lost his eardrums and partially his hearing from an anti-tank missile explosion.

Ahead of him is a skin transplant, prosthetics of the right eye and surgery on his broken collarbone. But the man's biggest dream is to restore his eyesight with the help of the latest technology.

However, back in February, his family could only dream that Vitalii would just survive. For two weeks he was in intensive care in a critical condition. When he regained consciousness, he was very panicked - he had his hands and feet tied, his eyes bandaged and his mouth sewn shut. He thought he was in captivity.

Now he works with a psychologist, trains every day on horizontal bars (before the Great War he was involved in sports). Veronika, who carefully guides Vitaly through Lviv, offered him to live together in the spring. Three of them. The couple have a nine-year-old daughter, but were not on speaking terms until the full-scale invasion. Now Vitaliy is most inspired by his family.

Now he works with a psychologist and trains on horizontal bars every day (he used to play sports before the Great War). Veronika, who carefully guides Vitalii around Lviv, offered him to move in with her and their in the spring. The couple has a nine-year-old daughter, but they did not have any contact before the full-scale invasion. Now his family inspires Vitalii the most.

Obstacles to the movement of blind people in the city

In his apartment, the man has already learned the space and can move independently. But he can't go further than the entrance.

"We live in Vinnytsia now. There are no sidewalks near our house, and cars are parked on both sides of the street. We have to walk past them," Vitalii says.

The man says that a silent electric car that can suddenly pull up is especially dangerous. While we are walking and talking, Vitalii hits a passerby's leg with his cane.

"The cane is a signaling device for others that a visually impaired person is moving around. The situations are very different. A person has to warn with his voice that he is here, at least to cough. You also need to watch your dogs. They can start biting the cane or get tangled up in the leash. There have already been cases when the cane had to be unwound to free the dog." 

Other dangers on the street for a blind person are low advertising banners on poles or buildings (Vitalii has already hit his head several times). And also trees. Blind people often wear glasses to protect their eyes from branches. Vitalii does not wear them, saying that he feels uncomfortable in them. In addition, he does not believe that he should cover his facial wounds from others.

"...because people are a bit relaxed. They forget that the land is burning a few hundred kilometers away," the man adds emotionally.

He recalls that in public transport in Vinnytsia he asked people to give up their seat several times, but no one paid attention to him.

An app for the visually impaired people

We sit down in a cafe for lunch. I ask if it is important for establishments to have menus in Braille. Vitalii admits that he hasn't learned to read it yet, because his finger sensitivity has significantly decreased since his injury.

However, he says new technologies are helping him a lot. His blind friend, for example, uses special programs for his laptop to work as a lawyer.

Vitalii launches a program on his phone that works on the principle of voicing the words on the screen. This is how he reads messages in messengers. Also, when someone calls, the program announces the name under which the number is saved.

However, the app does not read the cafe menu, which is opened via a QR code, clearly. Vitalii explains that this is because the text is written in a picture.

What is it like to be a chaperone?

Vitalii offers me to be his chaperone. I am confused and excited.

I warn him about every curb when we go from the road to the sidewalk or vice versa. I tell him the number of steps. Vitalii, smiling, explains that there is no need to be so specific. It's enough just to take your time and walk half a step ahead. Because, holding my hand, he can feel my body's movement: when I go up, he realizes that there is another step ahead.

We are getting ready to cross the road. The traffic light announces: "Crossing is allowed". Vitalii explains that sound traffic lights are very important for blind people. A little further on, the water is rushing. We get closer, and I tell him: "This is a splash fountain. The streams come straight from the pavement, and children like to run here."

"Oh, I realized what kind of fountain it is. I've seen it before!" Vitalii responds with a lively reaction.

Losing your sight and being born blind are completely different things, the man explains. Until he was 28, he had good eyesight, so he remembers everything - colors, shapes, specific objects. And this makes it easier to feel space and use his imagination.

The Museum in the Dark and the art of touch

We are going to the Museum in the Dark. This is a new space in Lviv where you can touch the masterpieces of world art in total darkness. For example, with a mini-replica of the Roman Colosseum, the London Big Ben, or the original size of the Mona Lisa painting.

In the first seconds in the dark, I feel a lack of air.

"This is a normal reaction of the body to sudden darkness," explains museum guide Yurii, who is also blind.

"While no one is looking, hide it in your pocket," Vitalii jokes when we guessed by touch that we were looking at a miniature of the Eiffel Tower.

When we come to the Cinema Art part of the exhibition and together with Vitalii try to guess by touch whose bald spot is on the bust, I ask: "Do you like to watch movies? Oh, sorry, listen to them."

"No, you said it right, I watch movies. It's just wrong to say it differently," Vitalii corrects me.

Stereotypes about blind people

"Give me your hand," Vitalii runs my palm over a portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. The copy is made of embossed plastic.

"I see the nose, I see that there are no eyebrows. I can see that. Look at her face. You didn't feel that she has no eyebrows. You saw it."

Vitalii clarifies that instead of the words "feel" or "touch" we should say "see".

Perhaps the most common mistake is to call blind people blind. This is explained to us by the museum guide Yurii. However, Vitalii himself says that he is indifferent to this particular word.

"The most frustrating moment is when I say to someone 'Let me see!' and they answer me: 'Why? You can't see anyway.' Although sometimes I turn it into a joke myself. In the hospital, during an injection, I can say that it hurts so much that my eyes turned dark," Vitalii laughs.

Yurii and Vitalii say that it is important for them that the person they are talking to looks at them during the conversation.

"When I speak, I try to look at the person. Then I feel like I'm talking to a person, not to myself," explains Yurii.

"When I talk to Veronika, she often tells me: 'You look me straight in the eye.' Where am I supposed to look?" Vitalii does not understand this reaction.

There is no rehabilitation for the blind in Ukraine

But for now, Vitalii's biggest concern is not the perception of blind people by society, but the lack of a state adaptation system. According to him, there is not a single state rehabilitation center for those who have lost their sight in Ukraine. And the few public organizations that hold "certain meetings for a week or two are a drop in the bucket."

"It's not enough to give some instructions in a few weeks for a person to apply them in life. It's about nothing. It's like explaining how to drive a car in two weeks: saying that this is the gearbox and this is the accelerator… And then drive yourself, you'll figure it out."

The man recalls that when he talked to a blind veteran from Israel, he felt a gap between our experience and theirs. Every 6 years, an Israeli veteran gets a new guide dog, each one has a personal social worker, veterans are regularly taken to cultural events, not to mention a decent monthly financial support. Meanwhile, once Vitalii did not know how to get to the bus station.

"And recently I had to go from Vinnytsia to Odesa for treatment. For objective reasons, I had no one to accompany me. I had to call patrol policemen to take me to the bus station. I didn't know what else to do."