A blind veteran is set to march at the Cenotaph
A blind veteran is set to march at the Cenotaph in London this Remembrance Sunday with the charity Blind Veterans UK.
Rob Long, 30, will be marching at the Cenotaph in London with more than 100 other blind veterans supported by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women.
He said: “Remembrance is a time to pay your respects to all those brave men and women who have paid the ultimate price for their country. For me personally, it’s also a time to reflect on and remember my friend, Bombardier Sam Robinson, who lost his life in the incident which robbed me of my sight.”
Rob joined the 5th Regiment of the Royal Artillery in 2008 and went on to become a member of the Special Observation Battery. Having fulfilled his boyhood dream of a career in the Army’s surveillance regiment, Rob was stationed in Afghanistan where he undertook his first operational tour.
In 2010 and just two months into the tour, his life changed forever when one of his unit triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), leaving Rob with life-threatening injuries and taking the life of Bombardier Robinson.
Describing the incident, Rob recalls: “I can’t really remember much, just some members of my unit shouting, before I eventually blacked out. I then remember waking up in hospital.”
Rob’s left eye was destroyed immediately, and the right was so badly damaged that it later had to be removed.
Call Blind Veterans on 0800 389 7979 or visit blindveterans.org.uk