Love Island 2023 star Ron hopes to inspire other partially sighted young people while on ITV2 show

2023-01-11

Love Island 2023 star, Ron Hall, has revealed that he hopes to inspire other partially sighted young people during his time in the ITV2 villa.

The financial advisor, 25, from Essex, is one of the Islanders appearing on the 2023 winter series of the hit ITV2 dating show and has made history as the first-ever partially sighted contestant.

Ron has opened up about the accident that led to him losing his sight in one eye at just eight-years-old and hopes he can help other partially sighted young people during his time in the villa.

Speaking to press, including OK!, Ron said: "I've never known anyone with the same thing.

"If I met a 12-year-old boy or girl who was blind in one eye and didn't know how to deal with things or was having trouble. I'd love to spend time with them and talk them through with how I've dealt with it and how my 17/18 years of having it is how I've dealt with it and how I think it's been amazing.

"Obviously, we all wish we had two eyes that work. You know, you have to look after your senses. But you know, how to use it to your advantage – how to be confident and how to not let it impact, how to not let people impact you, you know hate, bullying, those sorts of things.

"If I'm on there [Love Island] for a day, a week, the whole show and, I've never really thought about it, but if there's one person who is sitting at home and has anything similar, that's watching me and going: 'He's really confident going to talk to girls about his eye or he's telling everyone about it as if it's nothing.'

"Absolutely, if I can do that, that would be insane to me. It doesn't feel real that it could be a thing. But if I could, of course, that would be insane, it would be amazing."

Speaking about his injury that occurred when he was just eight-years-old, Ron said: "I was playing football, I was in a match and the ball basically come over. I went down to head the ball, he went up with his foot. Basically, knocked me out, detached my retina.

"I went to hospital, the next day [they] basically said: 'Look, detached retina, blah, blah, blah. Should be fine.' I had a load of operations that I don't know what happened with it all but basically it became very severe. [I've had] loads of different things, I've got like a silicone oil in the back of it, I've got like a buckle on the back as well.

"Basically, by like operation six or seven, they were like: 'Look, you're not going to get your sight back.' So for me, it was all about trying to make it look as normal as possible.

"Obviously, I was a kid at the time, I didn't really want pain but the problem was probably from the age of eight to 18, it was extremely painful. UV lights, sunlight, it was almost like someone poking me in the eye, all the time.

"For some reason, we have no idea to this day, probably when I was about 18 or 19, the pain just stopped. I could open my eye properly, I could look out into the sun with no sunglasses and be absolutely fine, it doesn't water. I've got one blue and one green [eye] and I guess in terms of how it has impacted my life, I've always used it to my advantage.

"I always say, there are so many people that are worse off than me. Obviously, it's a disability, right, we'll call it what it is. I'll label it. However, it doesn't bother me at all. But there's so many people worse off than me, it doesn't impact me as much as someone else.

"So you have to look at the positive side of things. And yes, when you're younger people will call you [names]. I used to get called Pirate, Popeye, but I used to call myself, my Xbox setting for when I was a kid, my name used to be 'Ron one eye'.

"We'd make jokes about it all the time. So for me, the fact that I was always making jokes and me and my friends would always make jokes, you become very comfortable with anyone who says anything.

"And for me, I've never really been impacted by bullying. Obviously, I think when I was younger I was a bit more self conscious when it came down to taking pictures because it used to close up a little bit and even now I know when it comes down to talking to the camera or pictures, sometimes I'll have like a little head tilt.

"I've just naturally developed the head tilt. So there's things that I always pick up like anyone about their own body. When you look in the mirror, you pick certain things but whether people notice it or not and if they do, it really doesn't bother me at all."

He added: "Hopefully people can see that I'm still myself, still confident, still very much my own person with it."

Love Island starts at 9pm Monday 16th January on ITV2 and ITVX.

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