“An ordinary bloke from a little village called West Bromwich.”

Dave was born 24th November 1957, but any one asking him, on his next birthday he will be 39 and 180 months. He is married to wife Debbie whom he whisked off to Gretna Green (a romantic at heart). They have a hat trick of girls whom he is very proud of; also an important member of the family is his guide dog..

He was always known as a clumsy kid, never a day passed without cuts, bruises or a broken pair of glasses, until at around ten years of age all was revealed, he was diagnosed with an eye complaint called Retinitas Pigmentosa, just a slight problem, it meant he was going blind. When first diagnosed he was quite a celebrity at school, "Wow Dave's going blind", no one else was so it was a case of " I've got some thing you haven't got". He attended mainstream schools, Greets Green Junior and George Salter High School, his claim to fame; he was the town champion at 1500 metres for five years.

The realisation of his eye complaint hit him with some force at the age of seventeen, his career in the army shattered and with all his friends taking driving tests made him realise the true implications of going blind, it was at this point he inwardly started feeling sorry for himself, "Why me", but in life there are two paths to tread, negative or positive and as he will tell you he took the positive route.

Regardless of his sight problem, he's had a varied working career, mainly office bound, other than his short stint on a fork lift truck, he admits he wasn't always honest about his sight problem, he had his own company for around seven years, distributing suspended ceilings, partitions, dry lining and joinery, he loved the buying and selling but with bad luck, bad debt and bad eye sight, all good things come to an end. After spending three years at the Queen Alexandra College for the Blind where he achieved skills in Braille, computers, carpentry and wood turning, it's now easy for him to lose himself in his workshop where he loves to design and make all kinds of furniture. He now even has a weekly radio slot on Insight radio called DIY with Blind Dave and still no fingers missing!

Dave tried hard over the years to conceal his blindness but with his eyesight gradually declining the accidents kept increasing until he had to admit defeat and resort to using the white stick, which made him feel incapable, vulnerable and extremely frustrated suddenly overnight Dave's life was changed when he was introduced to Peter his first Guide Dog. No longer the hunched figure trawling the footpath, but full of confidence, standing and walking tall, feeling very proud, striding out with a sure footed four legged friend, mobility assured, as for independence, the perfect recipe for adventure, with a social life, second to none, his only regret is not having a Guide Dog sooner.

For fun he's up for most challenges, he's had a go at most things, ski-ing, water ski-ing, horse riding, cliff jumping in Corfu, drove around Brands Hatch, rode motor bikes, drove a tank in the Highlands of Scotland, abseiled, was let loose in a speed boat, completed the Go Ape course in Grisedale forest, an Aerial assault course in the trees, done an indoor sky dive (now looking to do the real thing!) he certainly enjoys his running. Competing in many half marathons, including the Great North and South runs along with the New York marathon and to date completing his 10th consecutive London marathon. Oh! And of course completing 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents the ultimate challenge! Not forgetting he is now also the first and only blind person in the world to achieve this.

After completing the epic challenge, which took him on a running journey around the world, as stated previously, running 7 marathons, in 7 days, over 7 continents, which began on 7th April 2008 in the Falkland Islands (Antarctica), Rio, Brazil, (South America),
Los Angeles, (North America), Sydney, (Australasia), Dubai, (Asia), Tunisia, (Africa), with the challenge ending in the Flora London marathon, (Europe), on 13th April 2008.

 

The challenge launched Dave into a new career as a "Motivational Speaker" with a diverse audience i.e. After Dinner, Corporate, Colleges, Schools, Special needs etc.
A fitting end to 2008 was Blind Dave and his running guide being acknowledged at the BBC Midlands Sports Awards as the winners of the "Outstanding sporting achievement of 2008.

 

2009 sees Dave becoming the Physical Activities Champion for Sandwell Council and an Ambassador for the Birmingham Half Marathon. He was also acknowledged with an award by the High Sheriff of the West Midlands. Since the challenge he has been involved with many charities, including running the first Birmingham half marathon for the Kidney Kids appeal with " Team Blind Dave" and the last Flora London Marathon with a personal best time of 3 hours and 24 minutes.

 

2010 sees Dave being the first student to be appointed to the board of Governors at the Queen Alexandra College, he was also appointed patron of Ideal for All. Dave's ultimate accolade as a west Bromwich Albion fan was to be made an Ambassador to the club.

 

2011 sees Dave announcing his latest challenge Top2Toe where over ten days in August he will run/cycle John O'groats to Lands End in aid of Macmillan cancer support in their centenary year. At the end of season, West Bromwich Albion players awards, Dave was presented with an award entitled "Contribution to the Community" This is the first time an award of this nature has being presented.

 

August 10th 2011 saw the start of the top2toe challenge, Dave's first marathon of 10 began at 4am in the morning in what seemed like perfect weather conditions! The day suddenly changed turning into be the worst recorded rainfall since Scottish records began. Could it get any worse, and this was just the start!

 

Every morning starting with a marathon (26.2 miles), then exchanging trainers for cycle gear and cycling to the nights destination, a combination of running & cycling over 100 miles a day.

 

The journey as stated started on 10th August out of John O'groats, heading towards Lands End, via, Drumnadrochit, Loch Lomond, Lockerbie, Lancaster, Stoke, West Bromwich/Birmingham, Weston, Okehampton, Truro and finally on 19th August, Lands End.
In Dave's words, "It was an unbelievable journey, fighting the elements, rain, hale, fog, cold and sunshine, hills, valleys, A roads, B roads, Dual Carriageways, traffic. There was pain and pleasure, physical and mental fatigue but with support from a great team around me, the journey, the challenge, the adventure was a great success for both myself and more over the charity, Macmillan Cancer Support in this their centenary year, it's been fabulous!"

 

The journey completed, was another first, a world record, running 10 marathons in 10 days and cycling 700 plus miles, John O'groats to Lands End certainly never being done in this way before, possibly never again either!

 

After finishing The Epic Top2Toe Challenge, Dave went on to complete his 10th consecutive Great North run 3 weeks later.

 

In recognition of Dave's charity work over the years he was invited to Buckingham Palace for a Christmas reception with the Queen and also to a function at the House of Lords. In 2011 Dave was honoured by the Wolverhampton University with an Honorary degree of Doctor of letters. Family and friends are now extremely worried as Doctor Blind Dave is pondering his next move!