A BLIND veteran from Oxfordshire is to march at The Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday with charity Blind Veterans UK.

John Cantwell, 69, from Banbury, is being supported by Specsavers in Queen Street, Oxford, where staff have been raising funds to send veterans on the trip.

Mr Cantwell will be marching in Whitehall with more than 100 other blind veterans, supported by the national charity for vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women.

He said: “I feel incredibly privileged to be attending the national commemorations with Blind Veterans UK again. “They’re a great bunch of guys, you never know who you’re stood next to and what their story is.

“It’s about remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Even now there are those who are putting their lives on the line to help defend people who cannot defend themselves.”

Mr Cantwell joined the Royal Air Force in 1970 where he was part of the Motor Transport Service Section.

He met his wife Elaine while he was stationed in Cyprus where she was an RAF Nurse and left the RAF in 1980.

He suffers from a skin disease with a side effect that made him lose his sight.