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Strictly Attain Dancing returned with its concerts final weekend and comic Chris McCausland blew away viewers with his astonishing routine with reliable-dancer, Dianne Buswell. The 47 yr aged stand-up, who might maybe presumably be the first blind contestant on the contemporary BBC series has previously confessed that he had never watched Strictly before and had “no burning desire” to snatch portion, nonetheless such is his resolution to no longer let his blindness cease him he jumped on the sequined bandwagon for the twentieth anniversary series anyway.
On the other hand, Chris’ optimistic nature comes from shedding his residing as a young adult, because the comic might maybe presumably also seek for as a baby, and his refusal to bow the total model down to the condition, extra on what it is, below. Chris said: “It’s difficult when you’re losing your sight so subtly.
“There might be never a moment you’ve got received to handle. So if anyone has an accident and the subsequent day they’re disabled, they’ve received a gigantic moment of trauma and they’ve received to return to terms with that. Nonetheless if you are shedding your search noticeably slowly, or no longer it’s correct roughly a relentless phase of frustration and denial with out a doubt.”
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“And you do now not realise that you just can’t attain things except maybe one thing happens that you just realise, ‘Oh, maybe I mustn’t attain that anymore.’ The final time I performed soccer, I place myself in clinic and I thought, ‘Effectively, that’s my soccer days done.’ Nonetheless each and every of these objects happen individually, you know what I mean? And if you grew up with a extraordinarily accepted childhood, taking part in in the streets childhood with mates, and you are a teenager in Liverpool and in your early twenties, you furthermore mght can presumably be searching for to must be frigid or normal or whatever.”
He adds: “So there is a gigantic roughly refusal to score on board with the total blind thing, I possess. You know, love the utilization of a stick. I develop into never delighted with it. I possess because of this I’m peaceable no longer delighted with it. I’m peaceable no longer correct at it. I possess I’m no longer delighted with it now on story of I have not received the boldness with all that roughly stuff. I have not received the boldness with it on story of I develop into so resistant to it thru my twenties that I’ve never with out a doubt received massively on board with all of it. Nonetheless luckily now we possess received Uber now! “
What has Chris been on before?
Chris is known for his appearances on panel shows such as Have I Got News For You and 8 Out of 10 Cats, and for hosting The Chris McCausland Show.
He was also on Channel 4’s Scared of the Dark in 2023 which saw eight famous faces living, eating and sleeping in complete darkness. The psychological experiment looks at the mounting the pressures of light deprivation as they carry out a number of tasks.
What is Chris’ eyesight condition?
Chris suffers from a chronic hereditary eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). This condition causes the retina, a layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, to deteriorate, leading to gradual vision loss.
Chris, who could see as a child, lost his sight over time, describing it as a “constant phase of frustration and denial”. He explained: “Of us lope, “Well, when did you go blind?
“And or no longer it’s very laborious to verbalize on story of when your eyesight deteriorates progressively, you cease being in a position to realize a bunch of things at a bunch of phases. So you cease being in a position to gape in the ineffective of night, or seeing dusk, or seek for your computer show cover cover, or learn a broadcast book, all of these a bunch of things happen at a bunch of instances. Nonetheless I roughly explain uninteresting kids to early twenties, that roughly 5 yr duration from maybe 16 to 21 is when the majority of the dear stuff correct went.”
According to the NHS, RP is characterized by the deterioration of light-sensing cells in the retina, resulting in vision loss, and is often marked by a black pigmented appearance of the retina. Chris, from Liverpool, struggled with the subtle progression of his sight loss, saying
Chris’s participation in Strictly provides him with a platform to showcase the abilities of visually impaired individuals. The comedian stated: “I’m hooked in to ‘Strictly’. I resolve on to hiss correct how succesful and resilient blind other folks are.”
“There could be a misperception that we are helpless nonetheless with out a doubt we are hugely adaptable and improbable challenge-solvers. Yet there is a 73 per cent unemployment fee amongst blind other folks of working age in this country on story of employers correct don’t possess the mandatory vision to give us a chance. I resolve on to alter that although if I’m ineffective this might maybe presumably be a minute little bit of an possess aim.”
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