Talking about the “amazing” experience seeing his mother Mandy, he said: “I saw my mum’s face for the first time in five years and I made a joke about how much she had aged, which didn’t go down well. I could see a lot more detail and I could read, which is something I haven’t been able to do for many years.”
Nathan, 32, from Oxford, who works for the Oxfordshire Association for the Blind, started losing his sight when he was just 18.
Now he has found a way of combating the blindness and he is planning to marry his fiancé Ginny Matthews, 30, in May when he will wear the glasses.
The pair’s wedding was postponed because of the pandemic but now believe it will be “extra special”.
Nathan added: “When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t seek help for many years, and it impacted my mental health. I’m now an advocate within the visually impaired community and support people with sight loss.
“Technology can’t fix lost vision, but these glasses certainly give you a lot more than you have. I’ve recently learnt how to read Braille, which is a hard thing to do – I’ve been practising for four months and it takes me 20 minutes to read one page. With the glasses, I could read infinitely faster. They will make life better for many people.”
The glasses, which cost £1,500, have a battery life of up to two hours and help people with central vision loss enhance images of nearby people and objects on the lenses, providing a much clearer sense of surroundings.
Ice hockey player Nathan said: “It’s the small things in life that people often take for granted that will be improved by these glasses.
“I can’t enjoy a visit to an art gallery or a museum, unless it’s a touch tour. They don’t let you touch the Mona Lisa though, so it’s having cultural things return to life that will have the biggest impact.”
Dr Rakesh Roshan, the chief executive of Oxsight, said: “We’re thrilled that Nathan has had such a positive experience testing the new product and we’re extremely excited to help others living with central vision loss.”
