Outgoing and ambitious Lucy Edwards has always wanted to make a difference. Since October 2007, she has struggled without sight in her right eye due to her retina detaching, caused by the rare condition Incontinentia Pigmenti. Then, all of a sudden, in March 2013, Lucy lost complete sight in both of her eyes.
When she lost her sight at seventeen, Lucy’s world came crashing down. But Lucy isn’t the sort of person to give up. Instead of focusing on what she couldn’t do, Lucy decided to put all of her energy into what she could achieve, as well as transforming aspects of her life to make them more accessible to the blind. Now, she shares her Blind Life Hacks with a YouTube following of over 25,000 people. On her channel, YesterdaysWishes, Lucy encourages blind and visually impaired people to reach for their ambitions while educating the sighted world in an accessible and friendly manner.
When she appeared on national British television shows including This Morning and Good Morning Britain, Lucy inspired hundreds of thousands of viewers with her story and, in turn this motivated her to spread her positive message further. With the growth of her YouTube channel, Lucy has interviewed names such as Charlie Cox and Zoella, further raising awareness of blind charities. In the near future Lucy aims to launch her fully accessible make-up line, Wish Cosmetics, and release a children’s book all about her intelligent guide dog to educate young children on the blind in a fun and enjoyable way.
Having experienced such a unique journey with her sight loss, Lucy is able to produce moving and gripping speeches. Her relaxed and confident speaking style means that large and small audiences feel personally connected to Lucy as she encourages them to stand up for what they believe in and be themselves. With interactive techniques, Lucy inspires discussions amongst her audiences with the aim of bringing the sighted and non-sighted worlds together.
Lucy is able to create moving speeches that appeal to all ages. Her youth allows her to connect with young people on a meaningful level, as not too long ago she experienced the difficulties of studying without sight and navigating her way around a school of sighted students. Adults also often find themselves astounded by all that Lucy has achieved so far and motivated to see past the difficulties in their own lives.
Lucy enjoys cycling, reading and getting creative with make-up. Outside her YouTube channel, she’s a Digital Ambassador for Living Paintings and a strong advocate for Guide Dogs UK.
Thriving off her connection with her YouTube audience, Lucy hopes to spread her message further. She believes that no one should stand back and accept discrimination, and should instead learn to be happy with the unique person they are. She is passionate about motivating others to overcome their struggles in order to discover what their dream is and how they can achieve it.
Written by author and blogger Jessikah Hope Stenson
Lucy Edwards 