Love Island contestant Ron Hall says being blinded in one eye during a harrowing football accident at the age of eight has shaped him into the person he is today “in a really good way”.
And he believes his quirky feature helps him with dating.
“I’d like to think I’m not a bad looking fella, so everywhere else kinda made up for it,” he laughs.
The financial advisor, 25, missed Year Six of school after he was kicked in the face and knocked unconscious while going for a header - though he still went back on the pitch and continued with the match, despite being unable to see.
“It happened to me when I was about eight years old,” he says. “It was tough. What eight year old can deal with missing out on a year or two years of school?
“I was in and out of hospital for a long time. I had to lay my face down and eat and drink through a headrest. It was horrible.”
As well as coping with the physical pain, Ron had to develop his depth perception and has developed a tilt due to his eye watering, but he also had to cope with cruel comments in the playground.
“I think you have to learn to adapt to your situation,” he says, vowing not to let his disability stop him doing anything.
“I try and use it to my advantage, you know, it’s a great conversation starter. I’ve got two different colour eyes. All right, one might look a bit funny and a bit clouded, but, you know, that’s part and parcel of what life throws at you.
“When dealing with comments and things like that, I’ve got thick skin, you know.”
He adds: “They’d call you a pirate, or popeye. It didn’t even impact me.
“I was quite happy calling myself that all the time.
“I make eye jokes all the time. If a girl walks in, I’ll say to boys, ‘eye eye’.
“My nickname when I was a kid was Ron One Eye, my Xbox name would have been Ron One Eye.
“I used to embrace it. Because if you tell yourself those sorts of things, when people say it to you it’s not gonna hurt you.
“I’m very confident and I’m very comfortable talking about it. It has shaped me into the person I am in a really good way.”
He hopes his confidence will inspire viewers who might be suffering with similar conditions, like summer contestant Tasha Ghouri who wore a cochlear implant during the show.
“If I can do that for people, that’s fantastic,” he says.
Love Island starts Monday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
