Darren Blanks

As my younger brother, Darren, 24 of Egremont, Cumbria is a loving fiancé & father, a former soldier who has fought in Iraq during 2005 & 2007 began to lose his sight in June 2010. Test revealed he had a benign brain tumour, however, specialists said this was not the cause of his loss of sight. Darren underwent an operation in December to remove the tumour but, as a result, he lost the hearing in his left ear, leaving a small crack in his skull. Then between Christmas & New Year he was admitted to West Cumberland Hospital to be treated for meningitis, which a second bout of meningitis in February resulted in Darren being admitted to the RVI at Newcastle, where he spent eight days in the intensive care unit in a coma, which he soon had another operation to repair the crack in his skull. He has since remained positive & independent, not letting this affect his active lifestyle. Darren says that he just went into autopilot and carried on with his life. Not letting it get him down, Darren has grew stronger by fighting through the difficult times, getting used to his loss of sight & hearing in the way only Darren knows. Along with friends & family, Darren climbed Scawfell Pike, raising £300 for the blind society. He is currently hoping to compete in the West Cumberland Run in memory of PC Bill Barker who was killed in the West Cumbrian floods. He is a well-known member of the community who goes to extra mile to help others despite lifes difficulties, making family & friends proud.