A British charity worker left blind after being bitten by a Cobra in India in October 2020 whilst suffering from COVID-19, is to return to the country to continue his charity work.
Former healthcare worker Ian Jones from the Isle of Wight had been working as the CEO of Sabirian, a charity-backed social enterprise manufacturing and importing fairly traded handicrafts and furniture from India, when he was left fighting for his life in hospital in India with a second bout of COVID-19, pneumonia, and a potentially deadly double Cobra bite.
The incident had left him blind and paralysed from the waist down and, unable to leave the country because of travel restrictions at the time, he also faced mounting medical bills. Thanks to a Go Fund Me appeal which raised over £21,000, Ian was able to cover the costs of his care and return home to the Isle of Wight to continue his recovery.
Almost a year later, Ian, though blind and with mobility issues, is preparing to return to India and the people he is so passionate about.
Owned by Isle of Wight charity Community Action Isle of Wight, Sabirian provides employment and training opportunities for around 100 Indian craftspeople aged between 18-87, to help them trade their way out of poverty by providing training and help to import and sell their crafts and furniture in the UK and around the world in a sustainable and ethical way.
On the Isle of Wight, its shop in Newport high street also provides volunteering and employment opportunities for people with additional barriers to employment to gain confidence and help them on their journey to gain or return to work.
Ian said:
“The last year has been a real challenge in so many ways due to Covid 19 and the snake bite, especially coming to terms with the fact that I am now registered permanently blind and with limited mobility. It has also been a year when I have witnessed such incredible generosity and support.
“I was totally overwhelmed by the donations that literally poured in from all over the world in a few days, from complete strangers. Their support, along with my family, my Sabirian colleagues, the hospital staff in India and the NHS here, have quite literally kept me going and has given me the determination to readjust and get back to work. Words will never be enough to thank them all for what they have done for me.
“I am determined now, no matter what the challenges are that I face ahead, to return to India and the work that I love and to continue supporting the people who rely on the charity business for their own livelihoods. It has been an incredibly tough time for them too and a financially challenging time for the charity, so I am now returning to India to give them the support they need.”
Mike Bulpitt, CEO of Community Action Isle of Wight said:
“Ian is a remarkable man and so passionate and motivated about the charity work he does both here in the UK and out in India and the people he supports, so it is no surprise that, despite the life-changing experience he has had and his very real, ongoing challenges, Ian wants to return to India to continue that support.
“Sabirian is facing its own challenges as a result of the pandemic and with the villagers relying on the business for an income, Ian is keen to ensure – as its only British employee -that he gets the not-for-profit business back on its feet and supplying the UK and global wholesale market once more. The future for the business is still uncertain but Ian, as we have all witnessed, is not someone to be defeated!”
Ian has been researching and learning to use new equipment and adaptations that can help him to perform his role out in India.
Ian added:
“I know some people will perhaps find it hard to believe that I would go back especially after all I have been through, but this social enterprise and all the people it supports means everything to me. As for the challenges I’ve faced and continue to face, well I’m just going to see it as the next instalment in life’s big adventure. I have had so many people say to me you need to write a book, so, who knows, one day, if people want to read my story, then I will write a book about it all.”
Your doing great work, India is a beautiful place with the most lovely people, please write about your experiences, wishing you well.