Amit Patel is pushed out of the way as he navigates around in the capital with his guide dog
London : An Indian-origin man in Britain has fitted his guide dog with a camera to highlight the discrimination he faces while travelling around London, reports IANS.
Amit Patel, 37, is constantly pushed out of the way as he navigates around the trains and buses of the capital with Kika, his guide dog, said a report in the Independent on Friday. Patel said the majority of Londoners are “fantastic” towards him and his dog, but he does admit to losing his temper on “bad days”. He added that he decided to video his commute so that his wife Seema can share footage on social media to raise awareness. “It all started when people barged me out of the way, they hit (Kika) with umbrellas, bags. I get shoulder charged every day and when my wife looks back at the footage she can see they have done it deliberately,” he said. “They (people) have loads of space to get past but they seem to think it is fun to barge into a blind person.” He lost his sight unexpectedly in 2012 to an eye disease known as keratoconus. Describing one particular shocking encounter to another daily, he said a woman once ordered him to apologise to travellers on an escalator at London Bridge as he and his dog were on it.And he also recounted passengers barging ahead of Kika to get seats on packed Tube trains and others knocking into her while jostling for space.
Patel is nonetheless determined to continue travelling as he now volunteers for Royal National Institute of Blind People, Action for Blind People and Guide Dogs for the Blind to help coach new guide dog users.
