Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Blind Whanganui teenager tells classmates to get heads out of phones

Jacob McSweeny
By Jacob McSweeny
Assistant news director·Whanganui Chronicle·
12 Oct, 2018 04:36 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A blind Whanganui High School student is on a mission to protect the shins of his classmates as well as his cane, known as Shirley.

A blind Whanganui High School student is on a mission to protect the shins of his classmates as well as his cane, known as Shirley.

Darcy Britton has made a video to raise awareness about his cane and the fact he can't see students who he says will too often have their heads in their phones.

"I just did the video to bring awareness that when I'm walking around the school I can't see them ... they have to look out for me a bit, so I didn't keep breaking canes.

He's on to cane number seven - they've all been called Shirley. And the video seems to have worked.

"Everybody gets out of my way now. I haven't had any more canes broken since the video.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Their heads were in their phones ... I can't see them, they can't see me. They're just too busy looking at their phones.

The name Shirley came by as a bit of a joke between Darcy and his mentor.

"My mentor, one day she goes 'oh what's your cane's name?' I was like oh Shirley ... just thought I was being smart," Darcy said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Then she always said to me 'how's Shirley?' and I would say 'oh rather skinny'. She always asked me and so it just stuck."

Darcy always had restricted vision but went blind about four years ago.

"I never had full sight ... had about 40 per cent in my right eye and 10 in my left. No peripheral vision.

"They tested me for diabetes and that. I didn't have diabetes. I was almost 14 and I went blind and then they said something happened in my life and they said [I] went blind through hysterical blindness, which is trauma."

Discover more

Jay Kuten: Blind loyalty holds -- even when it makes no sense

21 Sep 01:00 AM
New Zealand

Plea for return of blind boy's bike

16 Oct 02:01 AM
New Zealand

Stolen bike: 'I'm sorry - I was drunk'

18 Oct 07:35 PM

Poor prep produces lacklustre results for Nga Tawa riders

15 Oct 02:00 AM

It wasn't until further tests were done and a brain tumour was found.

"I was in counselling and that ... I started getting dizzy and bloodshot eyes. When they looked at my eyes they said the cells are dead. When they took me for a head scan they said I had a tumour that was the size of a small fist and I had about four months to live."

He spent about three months in hospital after that but he's managed to live four years after the diagnosis.

Darcy said learning to get around with Shirley has been just one of the things he's had to figure out since going blind.

"Learning Braille's pretty hard .... mostly cooking because you're burning the elements ... you have to be careful around that. That's probably one of the hardest things to do."

At school he likes automotive and music. He wants to work on small motors when he's finished with school like a motorbike mechanic or a lawnmower mechanic.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Body of missing man found

Whanganui Chronicle

End of the line for former St George's School buildings

Whanganui Chronicle

Netball: Kaierau edge Pirates in thrilling Premier 1 clash


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Body of missing man found
Whanganui Chronicle

Body of missing man found

Kahu Gill's body was recovered near the Cobham Bridge on July 14.

16 Jul 08:34 PM
End of the line for former St George's School buildings
Whanganui Chronicle

End of the line for former St George's School buildings

16 Jul 06:00 PM
Netball: Kaierau edge Pirates in thrilling Premier 1 clash
Whanganui Chronicle

Netball: Kaierau edge Pirates in thrilling Premier 1 clash

16 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP