“ONE minute I had a life, the next minute I didn’t. It really was as simple as that.”

The time that Chris Ford’s life changed forever was 6pm on February 22, 2008.

He was on a shopping trip with his family when he was set upon by two thugs, one armed with a sharpened belt buckle and the other with a roll of pound coins.

It was a completely unprovoked attack; Chris, then aged 46, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But while one of his attackers lost his liberty for just three-and-a-half months, he lost his sight – and with it his confidence.

“For the next 18 months I didn’t leave the house,” said Chris, a former serviceman who was working for Sunseeker before the attack.

“The real impact of what had actually happened didn’t hit me until a couple of weeks later.

“I realised that if my daughter got married I won’t be able to see her walk down the aisle, it was thoughts like that that I just couldn’t cope with.

“I was used to working eight, 10, 12 hour days, seven days a week. I went from that to nothing. I felt useless, couldn’t see any future for myself, thought I would end up like a cabbage, doing nothing for the rest of my life.”

Chris, now 49 and living in Parkstone, believes he would still be in that place now had he not attended a meeting for young visually impaired people, organised by the Dorset Blind Association.

“I didn’t want to go, I couldn’t think of anything worse,” he said. “I didn’t want to meet people, didn’t want to answer questions.

“But I went along and it was great. There were no questions, nobody asked me how I was feeling, I ended up talking about music.”

That was the start of a whole new way of life for the father-of-two. With help and support from the Dorset Blind Association, he gradually regained his confidence, learning new ways to perform previously simple tasks and making firm friendships. Support from the DBA also helped him enjoy his seven-and-a-half month old grandson Oliver, who he has never seen but is able to interact and play with.

Eventually he was even able to reignite his lifelong passion for sailing by joining the Poole Sailability scheme, where Richard Drew of Parkstone Yacht Club helped develop his social life even further.

And his remarkable story was recently featured on the BBC 1 television programme Saints and Scroungers.

“Every single day is a challenge for me,” he said. “But I now live life as if every day is my last. I try and pack things in. I get a bit overzealous sometimes but that’s me. My message to others in my position is don’t do what I did, don’t sit indoors thinking your life is over.

“I was bitter, upset and angry and I would still be in that place now if it wasn’t for the Dorset Blind Association, they gave me my life back.

“Now in many ways, I think I’ve got a better life now than I had before. I understand, listen and talk a lot more. I trust a lot more people now than I did before. I’ve come into contact with people that maybe I would have passed by before. That counts for a lot.”

The Dorset Blind Association works across Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset to help people with sight loss lead full, independent, healthy and socially active lives.

The charity focuses on delivering practical services directly into the community to try and prevent visually impaired people from developing physical or mental health problems.

Their officers are at 17 Bournemouth Road, Lower Parkstone and their website is www.dorsetblind.org.uk. For more information telephone 01202 712860