A Blind Man Put A Sign Up In A Local Bookstore. The Response Has Been Incredible

October 14, 2014

A 34 year-old blind man had his caretaker place an ad in the window of a bookshop, and the response has been incredible.

blind man requests reader
Twitter

Andrew Bailey had put a note in a bookshop window seeking a person willing to read to him once or twice a week. His request went viral after a stranger spotted the note and shared it on Twitter.

The post has been re-tweeted more than 1,200 times.

The 34-year-old has the degenerative disease Friedreich's ataxia, which stopped him being able to read 15 years ago. Andrew first showed signs of his inherited condition when he was four. He began using a wheelchair aged 11 and was registered blind five years ago.

He also has difficulty hearing and speaking and requires 24-hour care.

One of his carers, Anastasia Umerah, said there had been dozens of offers of help, including at least eight or nine calls or messages from people that were received in the space of three hours.

"There are many, many people out there willing to read to me and it's very reassuring," Andrew said. "It makes me feel very good really. There are nice people out there."

Dec Munro, from Crouch End, who tweeted the picture, told the BBC: "I thought two or three of my friends who follow me on Twitter might see it.

"It seemed like a nice thing to do.

"I didn't expect anyone to retweet it more than about twice, never mind 1,000 times."

Sources: Mirror, Twitter, BBC