After Going Blind, U.K. Man Learned To Be A Woodworker With YouTube Videos

Amid a glut of negative attention surrounding insensitive clips posted to YouTube in recent weeks, it can be easy to overlook the helpful — and inspirational — content that the platform’s users regularly furnish.

Such is the case with 48-year-old Chris Fisher, who began to lose his sight roughly a decade ago when he was first diagnosed with toxoplasmosis — a parasitic disease frequently contracted from animal waste that irreparably damaged both of his retinas. The U.K. native, who is now blind, had previously worked as an engineer and harbored dreams of becoming a woodworker — so he turned to YouTube in order to help him hone his craft.

Fisher, a horror movie fan who’s particularly fond of vampires, wanted to learn how to make a vampire stake, Inside Edition reports — and so he began listening to YouTube videos. He learned how to operate a lathe — a tool that rotates a wood workpiece around an axis — after listening to 480 hours of online tutorials. And when the stake was successfully completed, he started to experiment with other items, crafting bowls, candlesticks, goblets, and more.

In 2013, Fisher decided to pass on his learnings by launching The Blind Wood Turner — a YouTube channel of his own. (Woodturning refers to crafting wood on a lathe). On the channel, Fisher shares tips and tricks, reviews products, and also shares insight into his experiences as a blind woodworker. He tells Inside Edition, for instance, that being blind has potentially made him safer than a seeing wordworker since he has learned to be extra cautious.

Check out an introductory video to Fisher’s channel, which has amassed 4,000 subscribers to date, below. In addition to his video work, Fisher also regularly travels across the U.K. to speak about his experiences and host public woodturning demos.