A blind veteran from Dorset completed the 100km Jurassic Coast Ultra last weekend and is now training for a second 100km endurance walk later this year.
Jerry Bradley, 63, and from Weymouth, took part in the event on 16 May and will face the South Coast Ultra on 5 September. Two ultras, totalling 200km and aiming to raise £2000 for Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women, which has given him his life back following sight loss.
Jerry and his guide Anne, who works for Blind Veterans UK but completed this walk alongside Jerry as a volunteer, crossed the finish line in 27 hours. The event did not go completely to plan; the pair ended up stopping overnight in Weymouth after assessing that it would not be safe for them to continue.
Jerry says:
“We set off at 8.30am but we paused the challenge at 11.35pm on the first day as we deemed it unsafe to continue. There was a lot of cloud cover making it a particularly dark evening which gave us lots of challenges.
“My eyesight worsens in the dark and the coastal paths were very narrow with lots of foliage and tree roots becoming trip hazards. I’ve walked the path many times but in darkness, I lost my way. Anne was finding it hard to get through herself, let alone with me to guide. Stopping and starting again at 7.30am the next day was the safest decision. I think we realised that if we attempted to carry on, we wouldn’t have finished it.”
As well as the challenge of walking in the darkness, Jerry and Anne also had to face a stretch of the walk that went along Chesil Beach which is stones, as well as periods of rain and numerous hills.
Jerry says: Walking along Chesil Beach was particularly challenging; walking on stones zapped our legs. During the challenge, we encountered quite a bit of rain which made the terrain slippery underfoot and we found hills where we didn’t know they existed.
“The organisation of the event was spot on and the food was great. There were always teas and coffees and at the stops we would sit and talk to other walkers. The team behind it ensure that the events are accessible for those of us with sight loss.
“I even took along little business cards that linked to my story online which I gave out; when others found out I couldn’t see, they were amazed at how I was completing the challenge.”
In 2025 Jerry joined a team of blind veterans to take on the South Coast Ultra and crossed the 100km finish line in 28 hours and 16 minutes. He says: “I found the South Coast Ultra mentally tough and I actually said, ‘never again!’ but here I am and this year, I’m pushing myself twice as hard.”
Anne, who works at Blind Veterans UK as a Volunteer Coordinator, was Jerry’s guide in 2025 and again for the two ultra challenges he is completing this year. Jerry says: “I am so grateful to Anne for her ongoing support. She has enabled me to have the opportunity to take on these challenges, find purpose and build my confidence.”
Jerry has gone from saying “never again” to taking on not one but two ultra challenges in 2026. He says:
“It was while on an outward-bound trip in the Lake District with Blind Veterans UK that I decided to sign up again and to join my fellow blind veterans for the South Coast Ultra once more. The camaraderie is fantastic and we all support one another to take on the distances we can manage. The training is fantastic for my fitness and for filling my time. I find empty time, the hardest thing about my sight loss but I now go out walking five days a week.
“It actually felt a little strange without the Blind Veterans UK team alongside me for the Jurassic Coast Ultra. I missed the group side of it so I’m really looking forward to joining back up with them for a training week in June and the South Coast Ultra in September.”
Jerry served in the RAF for 13 years and during that time lived in nine different places. Difficulties with his sight surfaced in 1996 when he left the RAF but it was not until 2003 that he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease which is a genetic eye condition. He says:
“Everyone has one blind spot in each eye but with Stargardt disease you have three and mine are growing; I’ve lost my central vision. I also have Charles Bonnet syndrome which means I see things which are not there.”
The charity Blind Veterans UK began to support Jerry in 2024. He says:
“I was in a dark place at times; I was the only blind person I knew but since finding Blind Veterans UK my whole world has changed. Within five months I’d been go-karting, paddle boarding, axe throwing, ascended a climbing wall and been around a velodrome on a tandem bicycle. I have met other blind veterans and my sight loss no longer defines me.
“Before I discovered the charity, there were lots of things I thought I wouldn’t be able to do anymore but with the support of the charity’s staff and my fellow blind veterans, I now know it is not a case of not being able to do something, instead I ask myself, ‘How will I do it?’”
Jerry hopes to raise awareness of the support offered by Blind Veterans UK and to fundraise so that the charity can support even more blind veterans.
If you would like to make a donation to support Jerry to reach his £2,000 fundraising target please visit his Just Giving page: Justgiving.com/page/doubleultra
If Jerry has inspired you to take on your own ultra challenge in aid of Blind Veterans UK. You can contact fundraising@blindveterans.org.uk to find out more.
Blind Veterans UK supports thousands of blind veterans across the country, but knows there are many thousands more who still need its support to rebuild their lives after sight loss.
If you, or someone you know, served in the Armed Forces, including National Service, and are now struggling with sight loss, then please get in touch. Call 0800 389 7979 or visit blindveterans.org.uk/gethelp
