Just over 18 months ago, paralysed from the waist down, I was so weak from blood loss I couldn't see. My eyes worked, but my brain couldn't formulate the images. It was the strangest thing I've ever experienced - the colours and shapes made no sense. I could focus a bit, if I held one eye closed, but even that took strenuous effort and slipped from my grasp like a bar of soap in hot water. It felt like gravity had extraordinary power, pinning me down to the bed.
