‘A motorbike crash left me blind with a traumatic brain injury – my life changed overnight’

A man who had a motorcycle crash that led to a stroke, a traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and complete blindness and deafness on his left side said his guide dog has been a “life-changer” and has helped get his “independence” back.

Oliver Perry, 33, from Glynneath in Wales, was driving home from his job at a Covid-19 testing site on July 21 2021 when he was involved in a “one-vehicle road traffic collision” on the M4 near the village of Jersey Marine and sustained “serious injuries”, according to South Wales Police.

Oliver said the next thing he remembers is waking up over two weeks later, on August 5, in the University Hospital of Wales with his wife, Lucy Perry, 33, and her mother by his bedside.

He stayed in hospital for over four months, where he underwent reconstructive surgeries and physiotherapy to learn to walk again, before he was able to go home in November.

Oliver said he was thankful that his partner Lucy took on caring responsibilities because he “couldn’t do anything independently”, including walking, eating, and drinking.

Despite making progress with his mobility in the years since his accident, Oliver said he was “constantly back and forth to the hospital” due to regularly falling over.

It was not until Oliver reached out to the Guide Dogs’ charity and got his dog Walter in November 2025 that he said he went from “being cooped up in the house” whenever his wife was out or at work to being able to “get out and do stuff” independently.

Oliver told PA Real Life: “Walter comes with me everywhere I go.

“I’ve had absolutely zero trips because Walt was always there to stop me from falling.

“But he’s not just my eyes, he’s my support dog too.”

The last thing Oliver said he remembers before his accident in July 2021, aged 29, is “coming home from work” with the NHS at the time.

He said: “I remember getting on my bike and coming home… then just waking up on August 5.

“That’s all I remember,” he added.

South Wales Police told PA Real Life: “Officers were called to a one-vehicle road traffic collision on the M4 between junctions 42 and 43 on July 21 2021.

“A bike rider was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

“An investigation into this incident found that the only vehicle involved was the injured party’s vehicle. The matter was NFA’d on July 2 2021.”

While in hospital, Oliver said he was “awake” but he “wasn’t really there” and his memory – both at the time and now – is “fuzzy” due to the traumatic brain injury he sustained from the accident.

He has since been told by both doctors and Lucy that he also had a stroke and that the “jerking movements” from it caused the retina in his left eye to detach and make him permanently blind in that eye, as well as become completely deaf in his left ear.

The stroke also caused a condition called Bell’s palsy – temporary weakness or lack of movement that usually affects one side of the face, according to the NHS – so Oliver said he had to have his left eye “stitched shut”.

He said: “My face on the left side completely drooped.

“I had to eat and drink through a straw but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and I couldn’t keep my (left) eye open.

“If I were to have a drink, it’d come straight out the other side and I just had no control over it,” he added.

Oliver said he developed epilepsy due to the brain injury and now takes medication to manage this condition, as well as sustaining a “shattered left kneecap” and his left cheekbone needed a plate fitted to help “restructure it”.

As a result, Oliver needed to use a wheelchair because he could not walk independently.

After initially being admitted to University Hospital of Wales, Oliver was transferred to two subsequent hospitals, including Morriston Hospital in Swansea and finally the brain injury unit at Neath Port Talbot Hospital.

After being released from hospital in November 2021, Oliver said it was a “real struggle” and Lucy “literally had to do everything” for him, while juggling work.

Oliver said: “I couldn’t dress myself or even tie my own shoes… and she had to wash me too.”

During his recovery, Oliver started musical therapy to help improve his coordination and joined a support group, where he met other disabled people with brain injuries.

He has also continued regular physiotherapy to help regain his mobility, but he said he suffered frequent falls due to his sight loss.

Oliver said: “I was struggling to get about and I was always bumping into things.

“I was falling off curbs and steps, especially on my left-hand side.

“I couldn’t see anything coming, so I’d walk across the road, not seeing a car coming from my left.”

It was during a conversation with a fellow blind person in his brain injury support group in 2021 that led Oliver to ask about getting a guide dog.

Oliver said: “I phoned them up and I asked if I qualified for any kind of help or for a guide dog and they said ‘yes’.

“They put me on the waiting list and four years later, I got Walter.”

Oliver said his first impression of Walter, a two-year-old Labrador, was that he was “very boisterous” and “a bit cheeky”.

He added: “He’s funny, he likes to do this thing that we call wormy worms, where he rolls onto his back and he just wriggles back and forth.

“He’s absolutely gorgeous, but one time it took us three-and-a-half hours to do a weekly shop because of everyone stopping to say hello to him.

“He just loves people,” Oliver added.

When it comes to crossing a road now, Oliver said Walter will “put his whole body” in front of him to essentially say “stop, there’s a car coming”, as well as show him where steps are so he doesn’t trip over.

With help from Walter, Oliver said he has been able to meet up with friends without needing Lucy to help him, so he has been able to go bowling and play pool, or take himself grocery shopping or for breakfast.

Oliver said: “Guide dogs change people’s lives.

“Walter isn’t just my guide – he’s my left eye, my best friend, and my freedom.”

To find out more about Guide Dogs’ Sponsor a Puppy initiative and to learn how to donate, visit their website here: www.guidedogs.org.uk/puppy