Blind woman sick of taunts from Westport residents

A blind woman says she is sick of Westport people constantly taunting and challenging her. File photo / Thinkstock

A blind woman who moved to Westport from Reefton seven months ago says she is sick of Westport people constantly taunting and challenging her about being blind.

Joanne Hawkins said talking to the media had been "the last resort" after bearing the brunt of constant verbal abuse while she went about her business inside shops and on the street.

She had been sworn and jeered at by strangers who ridiculed her use of a cane as they refused to believe she was blind.

Living with the consequences of blindness after overdosing on quinine at the age of 16 was enough to deal with.

"It's difficult enough to have to live every day with the consequence of doing this to myself," she said.

Ms Hawkins had a letter from the West Coast District Health Board stating the overdose had almost killed her. It also confirmed that, according to the World Health Organisation, Ms Hawkins was blind.

She said she wanted people to acknowledge she was legally blind, and that it was "not an act".

Just because people looked and behaved like they could see didn't mean they could, she said.

Ms Hawkins had not been treated this way in Reefton, as she was familiar to locals and it was a smaller community.

"I don't ask for any special treatment. I just want people to be a bit more understanding."