Is he just pretending to be blind?

Question

My friend came back from a holiday abroad saying that he had had an accident and now he has lost 90% of his sight and that he can't read or watch TV. He can only see things if he puts his nose right up against them and everything else is just a blurred outline. Yet he walks about at normal.speed. Crossing roads, walking up steps etc: perfectly normally.
I just couldn't make it out untill I heard that he is expecting to get £100K off the holiday insurance.
In the past he has bragged about pulling off Insurance scams. Is there any kind of blindness that the person cannot see anyting close up or far off but he can negotiate at normal walking pace, roads, steps, kerbs, lamposts, road works, etc: perfectly as normal. I want to believe him because this would be such a terrible lie to tell.

Joanbe. Without your glasses would you be able to walk along a crowded pavement, crossing roads etc:at a fast walking pace without bumping into things or would you have to walk a lot slower?

Answer 1

I told a girlfriend of mine i was blind and that I would like to sit in the bathroom with her while she showered. I convinced her I was allergic to plastic shower curtains and that I needed the steam to help breathe.

She believed me untill she saw my eyes following her moving breasts.

Then she told me to get back to mowing the lawn and to leave or i wouldnt get paid!

Answer 2

I mean, my vision is horrible, but I can still see large shapes. Without my glasses, I can see all that stuff you mentioned but cannot read. I mean, I would be able to point out a large orange square and know that it is a road construction sign, I just wouldn't know what, specifically, it said.

I know this is hard and their is an excellent chance that your friend is full of $*&@, but...if he is going to try to scam the insurance companies, he better find something better than that. Eye damage is very easy to test for...not just based on what he says, but on the insurance company's evaluation of his eyes. If he is lying, there is an excellent chance he will be caught. I don't know about the UK, but here in the States, insurance fraud is very serious, like prison serious. I hope for his sake that he keeps that in mind.

EDIT:

To answer your question, yes, I can walk about in the world at a normal pace without tripping or hitting things. I mean, I would never drive without my glasses or contacts, that would be really dangerous. Actually, I probably wouldn't even ride my bike.

I do feel very uncomfortable without my glasses or contacts.

Answer 3

Your friend should have SCAM tattooed on his head, as he sounds like he`s lying through his teeth in order to gain the money through deception, I wouldn`t worry though if I was you, I would imagine he would need to attend Medicals and such like to be 100% sure he was blind before the Insurance company pays out. He will need eyes on the back on the head to be sure he is not caught out. If he was truly 90% blind he would need a stick at least, your friend sounds like an a**hole to me, cashing in on something that just isn`t true.

Answer 4

If he has a history of those kinds of scams, then it's all too possible he's at one again.

Through knowledge of blindness, I'd have to say he's faking it.
If he has to go up close to things in his home to see more than their outline then he's definately going to have to do the same when he's out and about.
Actually, it would be worse out and about, due to the distance of objects.

I'd say... He's quite the liar.

Answer 5

He is pretending the blindness and assuming that the insurance co.s can be fooled.He is mistaken. The insurance cos. keep vigil even after paying the compensation.

Answer 6

Why do you 'want' to believe him?

Grow some cahones and tell him you think its not right!