Blinded snakebite charity worker Ian Jones to return to India

Ian Jones was bitten by a king cobra in India in November

A charity worker blinded and paralysed by a cobra in India is preparing for a return to the country.

Ian Jones, from the Isle of Wight, was bitten by a venomous king cobra in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, last year.

Mr Jones remains blinded, but the wheelchair-user has gained some limited movement in his legs.

He said his condition would not stop him helping others through his social enterprise.

In November, Mr Jones had been ill with Covid-19 in a remote village, when he was bitten twice by the black king cobra - the world's longest venomous snake.

Speaking to the BBC about the attack, he said: "When it first struck it was just this instant pain like a bite, but of course the minute I saw the cobra - now its panic."

He was taken to hospital hours away, before he was moved to a bigger hospital and slipped into a coma for several days.

Mr Jones said his blindness has remained and he has partial movement in his leg

When he woke up, his legs had become paralysed and he begun to lose his sight.

More than £21,000 was raised to help pay for his care in India.

Mr Jones is CEO of social enterprise Sabirian, which sells fair trade gifts and reinvests back into the charity projects and initiatives on the Isle of Wight.

He added: "This will not beat me. I can not be the person [where] it will just worry me or [leads me to] just give up on life.

"But it's the support and knowing of how many we are directly or indirectly affecting in a positive way - that's what gives me the determination to keep going on."

Mr Jones charity sells jewellery and homewares directly sourced by artists