Visually impaired Newcastle United fan seeks match escort

Keith Shepherd, left, relies on friends and family to take him to matches

A visually impaired football fan is trying to find a volunteer to escort him to matches.

Newcastle United season ticket-holder Keith Shepherd, who has Usher Syndrome, does not want to keep having to rely on friends and family.

The charity Guide Dogs is helping with the search and also teaching NUFC staff how to assist visually impaired fans.

Mr Shepherd said going to the stadium gave him a sense of normality by "watching a game like everybody else".

His genetic condition causes deafness and has left him with 5% vision so it is not safe for him to go on his own.

"My peripheral vision is not brilliant," he said.

"When you're walking in crowded areas you can't see and, especially when you're deaf, you can't hear any other people walking past you or coming to the side or walking from behind."

'Sense of release'

Mr Shepherd was first taken to games in the mid 1960s with his father, who died four years ago.

Now friends or family drive him the 20 miles to the ground from his home in Ashington and he listens to BBC Radio Newcastle commentary in his seat.

"I like to go because it's my way of getting a sense of release, getting away, trying to be as though I'm a normal person without my visual impairment because I'm watching a game like everybody else," he said.

Kelle Myers, from Guide Dogs' My Sighted team, said the charity had been explaining to staff the varying degrees of visual impairment and their effects.

"The first part of the training is around awareness of sight loss and understanding what those barriers to independence are and what those emotional consequences are," she said.

Staff are then trained in physically guiding somebody safely while "giving people dignity", she said.

But the charity said there was a shortage of volunteers available to help and Mr Shepherd was on the waiting list.

He said his eyesight would not stop him going to games but not having anyone to take him would.

A volunteer "would mean everything to me", he said.