{"id":337033,"date":"2023-09-11T19:58:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T09:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=337033"},"modified":"2023-09-11T20:02:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T10:02:10","slug":"charlies-walking-for-a-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/09\/11\/charlies-walking-for-a-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie’s Walking For A Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Charlie Hughes will be leaving Nanango’s Pioneer Park on November 11 to walk to Brisbane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 11, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nanango resident Charlie Hughes’ life changed overnight in 2020.<\/p>\n

The keen sportsman and fisherman applied for a job at the Kilcoy Meatworks … and failed the eye test.<\/p>\n

He soon received the bad news from a specialist, he had a rare case of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and was going blind.<\/p>\n

“In one day I lost my licence, my work and playing sport,” Charlie, 32, told southburnett.com.au<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He was playing cricket in the South Burnett B Grade competition but had to give this away as his eyesight deteriorated.<\/p>\n

“But my cricket mates stuck by me,” he said.<\/p>\n

He’s still playing cricket … every Sunday in Morayfield with the \u00a0\u201cBlind Bats\u201d who play a modified version known as “Beep Cricket”.<\/p>\n

Charlie can see just six metres in front of himself, and has 30 per cent central vision, but that has not stopped him for planning a big adventure.<\/p>\n

On November 11, he will leave Nanango’s Pioneer Park at the start of a 230km journey on foot to Vision Australia’s headquarters at Coorparoo in Brisbane.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He will be accompanied by his support worker, Tim Walsh, and will be collecting funds along the way.<\/p>\n

The pair plan to follow the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail as far as they can before heading into Brisbane.<\/p>\n

They will stay at pubs along the way, and aim to arrive at Coorparoo on November 17.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be hard but I am determined to do it all the way,” Charlie said.<\/p>\n

He has been in training, walking the trail from Blackbutt to Moore last week; and Nanango to Yarraman this week.<\/p>\n

RP is a genetic condition, and Charlie has been unlucky to inherit it.<\/p>\n

“My grandfather was blind when he was 15 but it skipped a generation,” he said.<\/p>\n

Charlie is keen to raise money to assist Vision Australia, but also hopes to raise awareness about the lack of support for people with vision difficulties in the South Burnett.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“There is nothing up here for them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We need more disability support, blindness doctors. All the doctors are in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully it will bring something up this way for us.”<\/p>\n

Charlie hopes to raise more than $3500 with his walk but there’s one other thing that he would like help with.<\/p>\n

“I’m looking for someone to donate some shoes, a good pair of running shows, for the walk,” he said.<\/p>\n

Donations to support Charlie’s walk can be made online<\/a>, and he can be contacted on 0435-799-280.<\/strong><\/p>\n