Blind Former Royal Marine Releasing Cookbook To Help Visually Impaired

A blind former Royal Marine is releasing a cookbook to help others who are visually impaired.

Simon Mahoney, 73, is releasing the book, titled 'First Catch Your Rabbit', in an attempt to inspire others with sight loss to get back into the kitchen.

"So many people who when they begin to lose their sight just give up, this is an attempt to jolt at least some of them into actually having a go at getting their lives back," he told Forces News.

Mr Mahoney, from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, lost his eyesight two years ago after being diagnosed with glaucoma, and earlier this year his wife passed away.

Having been left in his house "with no eyes", he had to learn how to function on his own.

"Forget all the grieving and all the rest of it that went on as well, I mean, [to] be honest, I didn't have time for that in a way," he said.

"I had to get a grip of my life very quickly and find out whether I could hack it as an independent person or not."

Forced to become more self-sufficient at home, Mr Mahoney found a new love for cooking and said "it’s just practise, like everything else".

"You just have to take it in baby steps and the minute you start to pace before you’re ready to do it you fall over," he said.

"It’s that simple, and you do that whether you can see or not."

The cookbook - which is being written on a specially adapted PC and word-processing software provided by military charity Blind Veterans UK - is also aimed at people who are sighted but have never cooked before.

It features 30 recipes, from making a cup of tea to a full roast dinner.

"Being able to cook what you want, when you want it is one of the major steps on the route to independence and living a fulfilled life," he said. 

"It means I'm no longer dependent on someone else. I'm fully independent."