A teenager woke up blind weeks after meeting her new boyfriend - and said it made them "much closer".<br /><br />Kitty Hinde, 19, has been visually impaired most of her life after being diagnosed with glaucoma - which damages the optic nerve - when she was nine.<br /><br />She had several treatments - included a cornea transplant - to stop her losing her vision.<br /><br />Just weeks after meeting now-boyfriend Sam, 22, Kitty woke up blind and hasn't had her vision back since - but says Sam has supported her every step of the way.<br /><br />Kitty, from Manchester, said: "I never thought I'd fall in love blind.<br /><br />"I met my boyfriend at the same time I was losing my vision.<br /><br />"I was blind a few weeks into meeting him.<br /><br />"We were kind of thrown into that together. <br /><br />"Some of the times I woke up blind for the first time I was with him."<br /><br />Kitty was diagnosed with glaucoma after a routine eye test and had various different treatments to try and save her eye sight.<br /><br />She said: "I had eye drops, immune suppressants.<br /><br />"I had drainage tubes in my eye to bring the pressure down."<br /><br />When Kitty got to secondary school her eyesight became worse and she became visually impaired.<br /><br />She said: "I have been preparing to go blind all my life."<br /><br />She had a transplant for her right eye aged 14 - where her damaged cornea was replaced with a healthy donor tissue.<br /><br />Kitty said: "The transplant was to give me more of my vision back.<br /><br />"It worked for two years before my body rejected it."<br /><br />In Spring last year, Kitty stated to experience days where she would wake up blind.<br /><br />She said: "I woke up after sleeping a lot for quite a long time and couldn't see.<br /><br />"I woke up after less sleep and could see.<br /><br />"It started happening once a month, then once a week and now it is everyday.<br /><br />"As soon as thought I was coming to terms with losing my vision I'd have a day where I could see."<br /><br />Kitty and Sam, a sound engineer, met in a nightclub in May 2023. Kitty said he was immediately supportive when he found out she was losing her eyesight.<br /><br />She said: "It made us so much closer."<br /><br />Kitty has struggled adjusting to being blind but has started to accept herself and her life now.<br /><br />She said: "I'll be looking at Sam - I just want to see his eyes.<br /><br />"I didn't realise until I went blind just how important vision is.<br /><br />"Not being able to see Sam is one of the worst things about being blind. I'd give anything to see him.<br /><br />"I'm grateful I got to see him."<br /><br />Kitty used to love reading and watching TV and says Sam will now read to her and audio describe shows to her.<br /><br />She said: "We've been watching 'How I met your Mother' with Sam describing everything.<br /><br />"A 20 minute episode takes hours."<br /><br />Doctors are looking at ways to give Kitty back her vision - such as a transplant is both eyes but are unsure if it will be successful.<br /><br />Kitty said: "Going blind was an identity crisis.<br /><br />"It's learning to love your life again."
