Cornelius McGrath began losing his sight at age 16 due to an inherited eye condition. Despite a ‘turbulent’ time, he’s focussing on the future and enjoying music, sport and time with friends.
The condition he has is called Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and leads to a gradual deterioration of central vision. Describing his vision, Cornelius said: “It's a sort of a circle of blindness in the centre. So, if you had your phone always in front of you or your hand. The actual spot itself is psychedelic; you've got green, blue purple in there, insane sort of patterns,” he said.
He added: “I've grown to get used to it, but it is crazy what I'm looking at most of the time, so, it is very hard to describe and truthfully indescribable, but it is always in the middle of my vision. When I close my eyes, it's there as well.”
Like Cornelius, some people may develop Leber hereditary optic neuropathy even when there is no family history of the condition. This is because people can carry a faulty gene without ever getting symptoms themselves.
Discover more about LHON in our A to Z of vision loss conditions
Changes in vision
Cornelius first noticed changes in his vision during sixth form when he was just 16.
“I'd say my right eye went first. I noticed a spot. The opticians didn't really understand what it was, 'cause, obviously, it's behind the eye. And then my left eye went. That's when I thought, ‘Okay, this is probably a bit more. ’ That was a bit of a turbulent time.”
LHON typically presents in one eye first, and the progression can be rapid.
Cornelius was about to turn 17 and was in the middle of studying for his A Levels when his vision loss began. “I had just joined a new school and was about to take my A Levels, and COVID was going on. I forgot about COVID. I was like ‘I got bigger fish to fry’,” he said. “I think there was a moment where you realise how serious it is, you're struggling to read or play football, which I love.”
The vision loss made it tough to focus on exams. “During January to September in 2021, I was really thinking, ‘what's going on?’ It was a really turbulent time. I managed to break my arm that time as well. So that's a, a double whammy.”
Discover how Cornelius has embraced technology
Mental agility: adapting to vision loss
However, Cornelius says he “grew mentally” despite having to relearn how to do things – including completing his exams.
“The first thing I did was learn to touch type – it goes without saying that it’s a necessary skill – the school also had to adapt to what I was going to do to get through my A Levels.”
With the help of a teaching assistant, he learned how to dictate essays and exams. “It’s difficult – memorising and dictating,” he said. “You have to form the thoughts differently. When you're VI you can't read what you've just said. So, you really must keep your train of thought going and remember where you are.”
“But, you adapt. I'd say my memory is strong now.”
At the time, he was focused on the present. “How am I going to do my plans next week? Or how am I going to come back into school? Now suddenly, I can't read that. I think at that age, 17, you're not really thinking too far into the future. Maybe university, but a lot of that goes out of the window when you become vision impaired,” he said.
“If I hadn't gone vision-impaired, I probably would've gone to university. I think the plan for me was maybe to study sports business. Maybe I still will, but I opted out.”
Ambitious plans: focusing on the future
He may have opted out of university, for now, but Cornelius has ambitious plans. “It [vision loss] is part of my life, but I'm just pushing forward, eager to keep making progress.”
He’s recently completed an internship with Channel Four through the Thomas Pocklington Trust. “I was on the sales floor – selling advertisements. The buzz of a sales floor, the thrill of just being in that office atmosphere is something that I really enjoyed. There's real pride of going into a big corporation like that,” said Cornelius.
He added: “Everyone's super supportive. I was learning a lot, whether that was assistive technology or just, media jargon or just how to interact with agencies and clients. I had a great nine months,” he said.
Football remains a big part of Cornelius’ life, too. “I’ve always loved football. As a young man in England, I think most of us love the beautiful game. I really enjoyed playing football, playing five side and eleven a side. I do thoroughly miss, playing sighted football. I still go to watch my team Queens Park Rangers.”
He also coached QPR ladies’ younger team for a while on a voluntary basis.
There was “a moment” when he realised, he could no longer play. “There was a rapid decrease in maybe not ability, but just awareness and obviously vision, but vision of the pitch and understanding sort of a positional awareness and, all that stuff. That was a moment where I was like, all right, I must call it off until hopefully this can be resolved. Which of course then it didn't.”
However, he has discovered VI football and has played for a year-and-a-half.
Musical expression: different beats
Since becoming vision impaired, Cornelius has taken to the mic and has been rapping about his experiences. “It’s good to express yourself, whether you’re in a bad place or not.” He is inspired by artists such as Kanye West and Childish Gambino, as well as by funk and hip-hop. Last summer, Cornelius hit over a million streams.
“You’ve got to try these things out. Whether I would've or not, if I wasn't vision impaired, I don't really know. There's real clarity in me being able to talk about that on a beautiful song where I can pour my emotion into the mic, into the stories there, whether I would've done that a different way if I wasn't vision impaired, most likely.”
Music making is another area where he leans into using memory as a technique. “When I write music, I don't really write a lot of it down, I just rehearse it and do it over and over again.”
Supportive environment: helps from family and friends
Cornelius has been supported by family and friends following his diagnosis. “I'm blessed to have a great family unit. My friends were good as well. 'cause it, not only is it a shock to me, but it’s also a shock to everyone when it comes about so abruptly. So yeah, everyone's like certainly rallied around,” he said.
Cornelius added: “Obviously, it affected me; I wasn’t in the greatest of moods, I'm still the same person. It's just I might need a bit more help with various tasks and I'm learning how to overcome those day by day. I can do a lot more than I could when the VI first came about, but everyone's helped me, especially my family, but my friends as well.”
“Just being social and interacting with my friends and keeping calm and carrying on. As I said, it was a rough time, but when you get back into normality, continue to see people that you get on with and continue to, as I say, some things I couldn't do play football or whatever, but you still go out.”
“Social interaction is the crux of having a good time is what I think. So, just hanging out with my friends and enjoying laughter, that's when I realised, things are fine. I can keep doing this and hanging out with people that I like.”
Reflecting back, looking ahead
Looking back, does he have any advice for his younger self?
“Things are good now, so I guess if I was to give some advice is, it's gonna be a bit turbulent. Take your time, grieve, it's a loss. But just be open to a new world and, things will be fine.”
“Take your time, grieve, it's a loss. But just be open to a new world and, things will be fine.”
“It was a real twist in my life, so where I'm now, it's pretty cliché I'd just be like, things will be all right. Everyone knows life ebbs and flows, it's up and downs.”
Having finished his apprenticeship, Cornelius is looking for a job and has a lot to offer. “I thoroughly enjoyed sales,” he said. “The atmosphere, the securing of, deals. And I guess the camaraderie of the office. Media was a cool industry as well.”
He also enjoyed the football coaching he has done but says what combines them is a passion for working with people. “I enjoy music. So maybe a sort of sales role in the music industry. I'm finding my feet, but at least I've got a few things to toy with. I’m good with people. That applies to so many jobs, doesn't it?”
His path is different following his vision loss, but he believes research holds promise for future generations. “If you can reverse something like this or prevent it from happening, you can keep someone's life path intact. As I said, I've gone on a whole different path. It's been great. Research helps us keep moving forward.”
