A FORMER Swindon employee who knows he may never see his children’s faces again hopes his steps will raise money for charity.

Lee Shayler, 49, who went completely blind at Christmas, is aiming to complete 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours.

The challenge is such that the father-of-three, who now lives in America, must do one mile in every hour, walking around the six parks in Highlands Ranch.

He started the challenge on April 25 and is due to finish on June 5 and is hoping to raise £50,000 – he has already walked over 800 miles.

This will go to two charities, the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society and American charity the Foundation for Fighting Blindness.

Lee said: “After years of giving up things and sacrificing things because of the blindness I wanted to challenge myself.

“It’s a challenge that is very close to me – perhaps it makes people realise disabled people can contribute.”

Lee, who now lives in Highlands Ranch, Denver, Colorado, worked at Galileo International in the Windmill Hill Business Park between 1989 and 1999.

He has a progressive disease of the eyes called retinitis pigmentosa that leads to deterioration of vision and blindness.

Lee said he is struggling to deal with tiredness, shin splints and blisters, but is determined to complete the walk. He is being led by various friends and family, but said he was still getting used to his blindness and subsequent loss of balance.

It was aged 21 that Lee first realised that he had a problem when he struggled to see shots while playing squash.

The deterioration was gradual but forced Lee to give up football, basketball and motocross at competitive level.

During his time in Swindon his sight began to be seriously affected and he was no longer allowed to drive or cycle.

Despite the distance, Lee said generous colleagues would drive him to work from his home in Cheltenham.

He and his family left for America in 1999, but Lee was recently let go from his job in information technology. He was inspired to take up the challenge after hearing about jockey Richard Dunwoody, who has completed it.

He said of his condition: “As it took form I also became more aware of the blind community and disabled people and realised there’s another world out there and a lot of people doing amazing things despite disability.

“That spurred me on to raise awareness.

“For many months things were pretty dark, where I got to the stage around Christmas that I had lost sight of my kids and family. That’s upsetting – you realise for the rest of my life you might not be seeing them.

“Although I can’t see them they’re right beside me, they’re right there with me.”

To check Lee’s progress visit his facebook page at http://en-gb.facebook.com/MeyeWalk2010 and to donate visit www.mEyeWalk.com.

To find out about the Foundation for Fighting Blindness visit www.blindness.org or to find out about the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society visit www.brps.org.uk.