A BLIND veteran from Worcester completed a parachute jump for the charity which helped him cope with sight loss.

Mark Abel, 49, of Worcester completed the skydive to raise money for Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for blind and vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women.

The jump happened on Sunday (June 26) and just over a month after returning to the UK following his taking part in the Invictus Games.

Mr Abel joined a team of more than 100 athletes representing the United Kingdom travelling to Orlando to take part in the second Invictus Games, a multi-sport event open to all wounded, injured and sick serving personnel and veterans.

He competed in several swimming events; the 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle and was the first British blind veteran to compete in the games.

After completing the tandem skydive he said: “It was absolutely amazing.

"I had done a skydive before but that was more than 10 years ago and before I lost my sight. I actually enjoyed it more this time.

“We jumped from 15,000 feet and were in freefall for more than a minute. It brought back memories of riding a motorbike for me.”

Mr Abel joined the Army on the day of his sixteenth birthday, joining the Royal Corps of Transport and later transferring to the Royal Logistics Corps.

He left the Army in 1996 as a Corporal, after 14 years of service.

In 2011, Mr Abel lost his most of his sight due to damage sustained to his optic nerves as a result of multiple sclerosis. He woke up one night realising he could barely see and his sight has not improved since.

He describes his sight as 'like looking through greaseproof paper'.

He started to receive help and support from Blind Veterans UK straight away and has been given training and equipment to allow him to continue to live as independently as possible.

He added: “Blind Veterans UK have been absolutely brilliant. By far the most important thing they have done is help me get back into work with IT training.

“Undeterred by my illness, and supported by Blind Veterans UK, I was able to overcome the problems that arose from my sight loss and return back to work in 2012.

“I’m wanted to take on this sponsored tandem skydive to raise as much money as possible for the charity as they’ve done so much for me and so that they can continue the amazing work in helping other blind and vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women to discover a life beyond sight loss.”

To support him visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Mark-Abel

or donate to his fundraising page using JustTextGiving.

Text BVMA66 to 70070 followed by the amount you wish to donate.

For example, to sponsor him £5, text BVMA66 £5 to 70070.