Observer editor takes a blindfold walk

Buy photos» The noise felt like I was surrounded by people on every side - but the picture tells a different story. 41.011.008.sol.jg11

Chris Willmott

12 October. Updated: 19 October 15:36

HAVING your eyesight is something you take for granted.
But what would it feel like if that precious sense was taken away from you?
Millions of people across the UK are either blind or visually impaired.
And for the lucky ones, they are given the gift of a Guide Dog to give them some of their freedom and independence back.
Wanting to know just what it feels like to be led by a Guide Dog Observer editor Chris Willmott donned a blindfold and put his trust in the skills of Ruby the Guide Dog funded by the Solihull branch of the Guide Dogs charity to mark its 40th anniversary.
And here is his account:
Having your sight taken away from you is unnerving to say the least - even though it is only temporarily and you can remove the blindfold at any point.
But that would be cheating and would somehow feel like you had shown a lack of respect and faith for these amazing dogs.
So, with my trust in Ruby that she wouldn't walk me into the tree in front of me, the sliding doors of Touchwood or the stalls and people bustling inside, I relaxed and ushered her 'forward'.
The feeling was most unusual.
We began the blindfold walk outside Touchwood and as we set off it was difficult to relax.
It wasn't that I didn't trust Ruby or her trainer Janine Woods who was on-hand in the event of me, not Ruby, messing the whole thing up.
It was just that it felt so weird to give up control and put myself totally in the hands of my faithful four-legged friend.
Not long in to the walk Janine said to me 'Do you realise how slow you are walking?'
I didn't think I was. To me it felt like I was taking bold, confident strides.
But apparently I was doing not much more than a shuffle and wasn't even half way to the door inside the shopping centre.
I was sure I was about to smack my nose on those glass doors any second now.
Determined to get the real experience and not to insult my guides, I stepped up the pace to what was probably describeable as a slow walk.
There is simply nothing else you can do but to have faith and go with the dog. And it felt great.
In no time we were at the doors and safely through them, Ruby doing her job perfectly to navigate me safely into the shopping centre.
It was then that things got even more difficult.
With no ability to see my sense of hearing went into overdrive and the hustle and bustle of the people inside was overloading my senses.
I could no longer hear the assurances of trainer Janine as her words became lost in the white noise I was experiencing.
I knew there were stalls in the middle of the concourse, but I trusted Ruby to keep me safe from harm's way where they were concerned.
It was the moving dangers - the busy shoppers - that were now my concern and knowing how to react to Ruby's lead.
"When the harness goes slack you have to stop because the dog has stopped," I was told.
But with so much going on around me, the noise echoing from left to right and people brushing past me it was hard to take it all in.
I recomposed myself, tried to block out everything else and concentrate entirely on feeling what Ruby was telling me.
And when I did that it was remarkable how fewer people I ended up brushing against or almost walking into.
Poor Ruby must have been wondering who this plonker she was attached to was and what he was trying to do to her.
But she didn't let her professionalism slip for one minute and she safely guided me through the crowds on what felt like a mile-long walk but that didn't even take me out the other side of Touchwood.
I removed the blindfold and gave Ruby a big thank you for my experience - an experience that literally opened my eyes.
I have always been blown away by what Guide Dogs - the charity and the dogs - do.
But my blindfold walk gave me another insight - one into just how much a Guide Dog can change the life of a blind or visually impaired person and how brave they are to put their faith in these wonderful dogs.
Guide Dogs quite literally change lives and give freedom to their owners - a freedom they may struggle to achieve without them.
So please, please donate to our campaign to raise as much money as possible for the charity and, if posible, raise enough to buy and name a brand new Guide Dog.
To donate just visit: www.justgiving.com/observerstandard or send a cheque, made payable to Guide Dogs to: Guide Dogs Appeal, The Observer, 45 The Parade, Leamington Spa, CV32 4BL.
To find out how you can support the charity visit: www.guidedogs.org.uk.