Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Ex-doctor narrates how guide dog resurrected his life

by NADEEM BADSHAH 

FOR Amit Patel, a dog really is a man’s best friend after he lost his eyesight within 36 hours due to a rare condition.


The former doctor was lifted out of his depression by guide dog Kika along with the support of his wife Seema and relatives.

Patel lost his vision aged 33 after waking up one morning in 2013 and feeling pain in his eyes. He was diagnosed with keratoconus, a condition which changes the shape of the cornea in the eye.

He is now a motivational speaker, disabilities campaigner and a father to three-year-old son Abhi and daughter Anoushka who was born last summer.

Patel has posted footage on Twitter of his journeys on public transport since 2015 including the verbal abuse he regularly suffers from passengers.

His canine companion has become his eyes to the outside world but also "like a big sister" to his children which he details in his new book Kika & Me.

In an interview with Eastern Eye, Patel said: “Kika was in the hospital when both my kids were delivered. My wife likes to say it kept her calm. The second time around we had my son and Kika in the room when the baby was born. Kika basically kept my son calm, he had her on his lap.

“The funny thing is the kids listen to her more than they listen to me - when my son is playing out or is a bit too rowdy, she puts two paws on him and he would accept that and sit down. When we try to tell him to sit down he’s like ‘no daddy I still want to play’.”

He added: “We find my son curled up with her in Kika's bed, his head against her. It is nice to know they have an amazing bond. He learnt to walk by holding Kika's collar. My son had no interest in using a walker, he tried to climb on Kika’s back and hold her collar and would walk with her.”

The former NHS doctor revealed he gets verbal abuse on average six times a month from commuters but believes more disabled people are speaking out now to highlight the problem.

Kika guides him everywhere after he did not go out alone for three months after being assaulted while walking with a cane.

Patel, who lives in London, uses his experiences to raise awareness of how some people with disabilities are treated in public.

He said: “It is easy to get knocked back down again. The little comments you get are that I am m selfish for having kids because I am disabled, my son is not going to have the same upbringing or if something happens to my son you wouldn’t know about it.

“You think, is this how society really thinks about disabled people? To my face, random people on the street have said this. I think 'wow, I am not the only blind parent out there'. You build an armour and carry it around with you.”

The 40-year-old added: “It is only when you talk to other disabled people, they have heard it, it is so common. The more I talk about it, the easier it will be for other people - how difficult life can be but also how rewarding it can be.”

During his motivational talks, Patel has spoken about his experiences on the London Underground. “When we started talking about this two years ago certain people were afraid to speak out," he said. “Hundreds of disabled people have come out and say I go through the same thing, I get abuse. I feel it has [improved] but people will still be rude, patronise me, speak down to me.

“If someone make a conscious decision maybe 100 yards to me and tell me to apologise to people for holding them up. You can see I am a blind guy with a guide dog. To belittle in front of hundreds of commuters, you have got something wrong with you or just taking it out on me.”

He added: “The message is slowly out there, people are understanding. A lot of people think asking a disabled person if they need help would offend them, I would take that help all day long.”

Patel said his happiness is due to the endless support from his wife, parents and Kika who helped him recover from the shock of losing his sight seven years ago.

“I never wanted to accept my life would be dark forever, there was so much I wanted to do in life. My wife, parents, were there, supportive said whatever you need to do, wherever you need to go we will do it.

"Once I accepted this is life and how its going to be, my wife already had a game plan, who to go to, who to talk to, she had done her research. My sight was taken away from me, but look how much I have got now -  an amazing dog, two beautiful kids, amazing wife, amazing relationship with her, it’s made us stronger through the heartache.

“It is so easy to split and go in different directions or her to give up on me. But she didn’t, she was there throughout the whole thing and suffered as much as I did, and probably more, because she didn’t know what to do or say.

“I have met so many amazing people in my sight loss journey.”

Kika & Me, by Dr Amit Patel, is published by Pan Macmillan.

More For You

Trump

Trump said the suspect had been arrested earlier for 'terrible crimes,' including child sex abuse, grand theft auto and false imprisonment, but was released under the Biden administration because Cuba refused to take him back.

Getty Images

Trump says accused in Dallas motel beheading will face first-degree murder charge

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has described Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah, the Indian-origin motel manager killed in Dallas, as a “well-respected person” and said the accused will face a first-degree murder charge.

Nagamallaiah, 50, was killed last week at the Downtown Suites motel by co-worker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a 37-year-old undocumented Cuban immigrant with a criminal history.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer Mandelson

Starmer talks with Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty

Starmer under pressure from party MPs after Mandelson dismissal

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is facing questions within the Labour party after the sacking of US ambassador Peter Mandelson.

Mandelson was removed last week after Bloomberg published emails showing messages of support he sent following Jeffrey Epstein’s conviction for sex offences. The dismissal comes just ahead of US president Donald Trump’s state visit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

Officials greet newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal's interim government Sushila Karki (R) as she arrives at the prime minister's office in Kathmandu on September 14, 2025. (Photo by PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

NEPAL’s new interim prime minister Sushila Karki on Sunday (14) pledged to act on protesters’ calls to end corruption and restore trust in government, as the country struggles with the aftermath of its worst political unrest in decades.

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said in her first address to the nation since taking office on Friday (12). “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

Keep ReadingShow less
UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

US president Donald Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links on July 28, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

THE British government has announced over £1.25 billion ($1.69bn) in fresh investment from major US financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by president Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

Protesters wave Union Jack and St George's England flags during the "Unite The Kingdom" rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

MORE THAN 100,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday (13), carrying flags of England and Britain and scuffling with police in one of the UK's biggest right-wing demonstrations of modern times.

London's Metropolitan Police said the "Unite the Kingdom" march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, was attended by nearly 150,000 people, who were kept apart from a "Stand Up to Racism" counter-protest attended by around 5,000.

Keep ReadingShow less