Anneka Lawson is talking to technician Vicky about her husband. Paul is a police officer, and was recently involved in an accident at work, during which he was hit on the back of the head.

“The doctor says that he’s never going to regain the sight in his left eye,” Anneka tells Vicky. “The damage is just too great and can’t be repaired.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” replies Vicky. “Is he coping OK? Was his other eye affected?”

“By some kind of miracle, his other eye escaped unscathed,” says Anneka. “His work have put him onto desk duties, but he finds it pretty hard going. In fact, we were thinking of registering him as partially sighted or visually impaired – or whatever the term is nowadays – because someone mentioned that then he’ll be able to claim some benefits. Actually, you might know something about this. Paul’s unsure but I wonder if his reluctance is part of him taking some time to come to terms with it all – he is having counselling though.”