Light shines from darkness for blind man

By CATHY ARONSON

Len Tanner's world plunged into darkness last year when he woke in hospital to discover his new bride had died and he had lost his vision in a car accident.

That darkness has begun to lift.

Diana Tanner died last August on the way to her honeymoon when a car lost control on a treacherous corner on State Highway 2 near the Karangahake Gorge, between Paeroa and Waihi, and collided with Mr Tanner's car.

A week after the couple's wedding in Morrinsville, Mr Tanner was taken in an ambulance back for his wife's funeral and wheeled into the Jehovah's Witnesses church in a hospital bed.

But he could not see his wife, who was dressed in her wedding gown, to say goodbye.

Mr Tanner, aged 54, was declared officially blind after glass from his classic Ford Falcon fell into his good right eye when emergency crews cut him free.

He could only see objects up close in his left eye, which has been impaired since childhood.

The tragedy happened a year after Mr Tanner's first wife of 32 years, Dorothy, died of a heart attack.

The new Mrs Tanner had also suffered losing her eldest son, former husband and father in the previous three years.

"We had found peace with each other. We were looking forward to a new beginning together."

After the seven stitches in Mr Tanner's cornea were removed in February, he slowly regained his sight, although objects were blurry and disfigured.

Determined to regain his independence, he tried to go about his life in Katikati. But basic chores such as shopping were a struggle, and locals helped him out.

"Nothing I saw made sense. I was banging into sandwich boards and it felt like I was walking through long grass. But I was determined that I would see again one day."

That day was March 6, while Mr Tanner was fumbling around in his workshop trying to make wooden planter boxes.

"All of a sudden I could see what I was doing. I could even see the numbers on the measuring tape."

In excited haste, Mr Tanner forgot that he was forbidden to drive and drove to his eye specialist in Tauranga.

Dr Peter Haddad said he had told Mr Tanner just a month before that he would need an expensive cornea transplant and thick glasses if he wanted to drive again.

"He was very, very lucky. Normally at the least you would expect some degree of distortion.

"We certainly did not expect this level of vision - enough to be able to drive without glasses."

Mr Tanner has now begun to rebuild his life and has travelled past the treacherous corner, known as Turner's Hill, three times since the accident.

He said the road was a blackspot with an uneven surface, poor contours and alignment. Ten people have died there in the past decade, prompting Transit NZ to propose a $3 million re-alignment.