A STUDENT from Newport has become the only person in the UK with a visual impairment to receive The Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

Kieran Parnell, a student at The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) in Hereford, picked up one of only two Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards given to people from Wales in 2015.

The 18-year-old from Wentlooge attended the awards ceremony at The Riverfront in Newport earlier this month.

He said: “The Duke of Edinburgh is something that I will never forget because I proved to myself that I could do it without my lack of sight getting in the way.

“I hope that in the future I can show that sight is not an issue when it comes to achievement.”

Kieran was born blind in his right eye and at the age of 16 he began to lose the vision in his left. He was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, which leads to progressive sight loss.

He added: “Working towards the Gold Award will always be significant to me because it coincided with the time that I lost my sight and I proved to myself that no matter how hard things got I never gave up.

“I continually faced challenges throughout as I had to teach myself how to read a map in a completely new way and had to draw out exact routes and to check point’s regularly.”

The college offers both Bronze and Silver Awards to its students, however Mr Parnell undertook the Gold Award through Newport Council Youth Service.

RNC’s Duke of Edinburgh co-ordinator Barry Morris said Mr Parnell is also supporting students at the college who are taking part in the Bronze and Silver Awards.

He said: “Kieran will be a useful asset to have helping with the awards as he’s got all of the skills needed for it and I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to teach me a thing or two.”