Thanks for being curious. Here is a little more about me …

I live in Sydney, Australia, am married with two kids, have a mortgage, a Subaru and two beautiful chocolate Labs. I work as a senior lawyer specialising in serving charities, not-for-profits and social enterprise

I enjoy keeping strong and fit, Tae Kwon Do, reading action and thriller fiction, drinking and learning about craft beer, playing piano, great surround sound, collecting and drinking red wine and playing the odd game of 500 and a cryptic crossword every now and then. <

I grew up on a farm in a little country town in New South Wales, Australia with my mum, dad, younger brother and nan. We weren’t the most well-off of families, that’s for sure, but my modest upbringing helped make me who I am today, and I am thankful to my parents and my nan who worked hard to ensure that my brother and I never went without the essentials.

I was diagnosed with retinal dystrophy when I was about 4, a condition that left me blind by the time I was 13.

Retinal dystrophy is a pretty rare genetic condition where the rods and cones in the retina of the eye do not rejuvenate.  My diagnosis was a big surprise, as there is no family history, which would be a common indicator. 

So, how did it happen?

No one really knows, a genetic anomaly.

Having retinal distrophy meant that my sight deteriorated, slowly during my early years, and much faster as I hit 13.

I attended a small primary school – only 90 students across kindergarten to grade six. Looking back now, this was a perfect environment for me, a kid with a disability, to be part of the mainstream school system back in the 80s.

Next stop along my education journey was Coffs Harbour Public High School. Here there were about 100 students just in grade seven, more kids than there were in my entire primary school! And, yep, it was pretty scary.

My sight deteriorated rapidly in the 12 months between the ages of 12 and 13, just at the time I was transitioning into high school and hitting puberty. This was a pretty tough time for me, particularly as other kids are not the kindest at this age.

I won’t bore you with the details, at least not here. I now know, though, that this was a significant and important part of my life.

I often say that I was hardened in the forge of Coffs Harbour High. In my list of achievements, I place getting through high school as the single most difficult thing I have ever had to do. And having done it, I know I can pretty well do anything.

As I moved through high school, I wasn’t ready to make myself stick out as being more unusual than I perhaps already was. So, while I probably should have used a white cane, I didn’t.

There were lots of bumps, falls and accidental run-ins as I am sure you can imagine, and as my eyebrow ridge and shinbones attest.

There are lots and lots of stories from this part of my life that will pop up from time to time as I share my life experiences with you .<

For now, though, it is enough to say that I finished high school, some how, and managed to do well enough in my studies to be accepted into university.

Attending university to complete my social work degree meant that I had to leave the bush and travel to the big smoke, Sydney.  I recall to this day my dad trying to convince me that I should stay at home and study locally in Coffs. Being curious from a young age and eager for adventure, I felt absolutely certain that moving out of home was not just the thing that had to be done in order to study; my heart, my gut, my head, everything was telling me that it was time for me to strike out on a path of my own. So, strike out I did!

Thanks again to my parents who brought me up to have the skills, mentality and drive needed for such a move to become a reality and for having the courage to let their blind son move to Sydney on his own. Thanks too to my brother who was a fantastic support and playmate as we grew up together on the farm.

When moving to Sydney to go to uni, it was time to face facts. Yep, I am blind and being blind means I need to use a cane to get around and also, to be honest, as a way of letting others know that I can’t see.

I realised that being blind was part of me and that I might as well embrace it and get on with things.

My university days, and living on campus before moving out into shared accommodation with friends, is another phase of my life fertile with stories that I will no doubt share with you over time.

After completing my social work degree, I traveled a little, worked as a social worker for a couple of years, met my future wife and then went back to university and completed a law degree.

One of the key factors that has enabled me to get where I am and to have done the things I’ve done is the self-reliance and independence my parents allowed me to develop and that I continue to hone even today.   The temptation, the very real and strong temptation, would have been to wrap me up in cotton wool.

Looking back, and having kids myself now, I am amazed, and grateful, that my parents let their blind son chop the firewood, mow the lawns, ride his BMX bike, cook dinner, play cricket with a real cricket ball, ride horses, wander round the farm, go fishing, water ski, drive a go-cart, ride a motor bike, drive an old Toyota ute in the paddocks, set and light the fire in winter … oh and so much more!

So, that’s me.  Well, at least a part of it.  You probably know more about me now than many of the people I interact with every day!