'We're so lucky to have met'

Graham Ward and Lindy Elliott found love with each other after meeting through national military charity Blind Veterans UK, who they have both received support from since losing their sight.

Graham, 59, who lives in Fleetwood, met Lindy Elliott, 71, from Wiltshire, in July last year. And he reveals that the two most important people to him arrived in his life around the same time as he had only had guide dog Clyde for about a week when he met Lindy.

Graham is now planning to move to the village of Mere in Wiltshire to be with Lindy and she is delighted that Graham and his dog Clyde are in her life.

Ex-Wren Lindy and former RAF man Graham both lost their sight later in life. Lindy lost her vision to diabetic retinopathy and Graham to glaucoma.

They joined the charity in 2012 and 2013 respectively but despite both attending charity events like the Blind Veterans UK Centenary Garden Party at Buckingham Palace and a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey in 2015, the couple only met in July last year.

Graham says: “We met under the arches at Brighton Station when we were both headed for a week’s stay at the charity’s Brighton rehabilitation and training centre.

“That whole week we were inseparable. On our final day Lindy invited me to visit her in Mere and the rest is history.”

Lindy recalls: “He walked up to me with such confidence that I felt sure I knew him, so I asked if we’d met before. From that very moment we became very attached to one another.

Sharing your life with someone is so special and Graham and I feel lucky to have found each other. The moment we met we just clicked.”

We felt like we’d known each other for years.”