Tuesday, February 3, 2026
ADVT 
National

WATCH: Indian-Origin Blind Man Puts Camera On Dog To Film Discrimination In London

Darpan News Desk, 06 Jan, 2017 01:21 PM
    A 37-year-old Indian-origin blind man in the UK has fitted his guide dog with a camera in a bid to highlight the discrimination and abuse he faces daily while travelling around London.
     
    Amit Patel lost his eyesight five years ago to an eye disease known as keratoconus.
     
     
    He gets around London with the help of his guide dog, Kika, to whom Mr Patel recently attached a GoPro camera to film the discrimination he faces every day from fellow Londoners.
     
    "The city is a scary place. It's like someone put you in the middle of Trafalgar Square, turned you in a circle and said 'find your way home'," Mr Patel was quoted as saying by BBC.
     
     
    The footage captured by his canine guide has not always shown a city willing to help him.
     
    "The video came out of necessity. Kika was getting hit by peoples' bags and she was getting a lot of abuse. A woman stopped me one day and had a go at me for holding everyone up and said I should apologise, which was a real shock," he said.
     
    The former doctor found a solution - attach a GoPro to Kika's harness and film every journey.
     
    Mr Patel's wife, Seema, can then review the footage if it is felt there was something amiss about that day.
     
    When alterations were made to a London train station the camera came into its own.
     
    "I asked for help and no one came. The video shows lots of staff standing around me and this one guy looking over many times," Mr Patel said.
     
    "Eventually when the staff member actually came to me the first thing he said was 'sorry I didn't see you' and that really bugged me," he said.
     
    The footage was sent to Network Rail giving Mr Patel the "valuable evidence" needed to lodge a formal complaint about an incident he could not see.
     
    The video had an impact and Network Rail investigated before giving further training to its staff.
     
    Mr Patel learned he had keratoconus - a condition which changes the shape of the cornea - in the final year of medical school.
     
    Lenses to push the corneas back into shape stopped working and six cornea transplants were rejected by his body until he was told "no more".
    "There are taxi drivers who will see you and won't stop. You phone the company and they say they didn't see you, but you look at the footage and see them having looked at you and driving right past," he said.
     
    Other incidents, Mr Patel said highlight a lack of thought - especially on London's Underground.
     
    "People assume, because I have a guide dog, I can walk around them but they make us walk near the tracks or I can say to Kika 'find me a seat' and I'll put my hand down on one and someone will sit on it and refuse to get up," he said.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    CREA Raises Forecast For 2016 Home Sales, Expects Fewer Sales In 2017

    CREA Raises Forecast For 2016 Home Sales, Expects Fewer Sales In 2017
    OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association is forecasting national home sales this year will be slightly higher than its previous estimates, with increased expectations for Ontario offsetting a decline for British Columbia.

    CREA Raises Forecast For 2016 Home Sales, Expects Fewer Sales In 2017

    Federal Government Moves To Ban Asbestos By 2018

    OTTAWA — After years in which thousands of Canadians were diagnosed annually with deadly, asbestos-related cancers, the federal government is finally moving to ban all products containing asbestos by 2018.

    Federal Government Moves To Ban Asbestos By 2018

    A Trump Bump? American Refugee Claims In Canada Increased Last Month

    A Trump Bump? American Refugee Claims In Canada Increased Last Month
    WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking refugee status in Canada has experienced a significant bump this year, increasing more than five times in November 2016 from the same period a year earlier.

    A Trump Bump? American Refugee Claims In Canada Increased Last Month

    Quebec Court Acquits Man In Hells Angels Slaying After Key Witness Admits Lying

    Quebec Court Acquits Man In Hells Angels Slaying After Key Witness Admits Lying
    MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal has acquitted a man in the April 2000 slaying of a high-ranking Hells Angels member because a key prosecution witness admitted to lying on the stand.

    Quebec Court Acquits Man In Hells Angels Slaying After Key Witness Admits Lying

    Justin Trudeau Details Latest Steps On New Relationship With Canada's Aboriginal Peoples

    Justin Trudeau Details Latest Steps On New Relationship With Canada's Aboriginal Peoples
    OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a committee of indigenous leaders and cabinet ministers has been set up to work on establishing Canada's new relationship with Aboriginal Peoples.

    Justin Trudeau Details Latest Steps On New Relationship With Canada's Aboriginal Peoples

    Can't Grow Beard In Armed Forces On Religious Ground: SC

    Can't Grow Beard In Armed Forces On Religious Ground: SC
    The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea by an IAF personnel seeking to grow a beard and said that the IAF's policies on personal appearance were not intended to discriminate against religious beliefs.

    Can't Grow Beard In Armed Forces On Religious Ground: SC