AT 18, Margaret Hayman was engaged and working at a pie cart in Whakatāne, when she lost her eyesight.  

Born in Taihape, Ms Hayman spent the first 13 years of her life in her parent’s hometown before moving to Ōhope.

She grew up in a big “spread-out” family, the second youngest of six children.  

“My parents had two kids with two years between them, then five years later they had another two children, and five years later another two,” she said.

Her sister, 10-and-a-half years older than her, was married when Ms Hayman was only seven.

Ms Hayman began high school in Whakatāne. Her father, Jack Hayman, was a veteran and worked in the Ford garage parts department, and her mum, Violet, at a wool shop.

Ms Hayman left school at age 15 and started work as a manager for the pie cart in town, next to Road Services, the main bus depot.  

“The owner of the cart lived out of town, so I was doing all the food ordering and banking by myself,” she said.

While working there, her younger brother lost his sight at age 12, then two years later her older brother lost his at 21. It was a genetic disease, Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, sudden vision loss.  

Her family learned the symptoms were more likely in men, and only 15 percent of women with the gene mutation experience vision loss.

At 18, while working at the pie cart and planning her wedding, Ms Hayman began to lose her eyesight, too.  

“All three of us in two years; my poor mother,” she said.  

She lost her eyesight over a period of three months, and said it took her years to adjust. She had to give up her job.

“I had just gotten engaged as well. It was hard – but I had no choice. I had all sorts of emotions, but I had a lot of family support, so I was very lucky.”

After she married, they moved into a house that was centrally located, so she could walk everywhere.

They had a son, Karl, and two-and-a-half years later she became pregnant with her second son, Stephen.  

A friend invited her along to an exercise class while pregnant, and Ms Hayman loved it so much she remained at the class for several years thereafter.

When their boys were aged one and three, her husband took a job in Auckland and was away from home during the week for seven months, leaving Ms Hayman alone to look after their children.

“I came up with a lot of innovative ways to do things,” she said.

To go shopping, she would walk to the supermarket, place one-year-old Stephen in the trolley and would describe the items she needed to three-and-a-half-year-old Karl, so he could collect them.

“I would say, ‘and now the square box Mummy does the washing with’. He already knew what colours and sizes everything was.”

Road safety was even more important for herself and her children, and she had to teach them how to cross the roads.

“They were more road smart than most little children,” she said.

They had their third son, Bradley, and Karl started school.

As her children started school, she thought to herself, “how am I going to help them with their homework?”  

She bought a large alphabet chart poster and taught her boys the alphabet. If they were stuck on a word in their homework, she would ask them to spell it out on the chart.

Bradley told her: “We were the best spellers in the school, thanks to our mum”.  

All three boys made the Bay of Plenty reps for hockey.

“I was a big support person; I was there for every game they played. I learnt to follow their games by listening to them.”

Meanwhile, her exercise class had evolved into her becoming a part of an encompassing and supportive community.  

“I didn’t expect the camaraderie and friendships. Some of those major life events, I would not have made it through without them,” she said.

One day, a woman from the class expressed interest in learning to run a class herself, and Ms Hayman thought she might want to try that, too.

As soon as she put her hand up to learn, her classmate, Glennis Hughes, offered her own services to be Ms Hayman’s reader-writer.  

“She was amazing and came up with all sorts of ways for me to learn.”

With 21 units of papers to learn in two years via correspondence, the pair had to get creative.

To learn skeletal and muscular positions and the four chambers of the heart, they went to a physiotherapist’s office, so Ms Hayman could feel the different models and demonstration props, so she could learn their positions by touch.  

After a lot of study, a couple of block courses in Waikato and Browns Bay, and teamwork, Ms Hayman had her qualification with NetFit and began voluntarily running classes.

Since gaining her qualification, she has run exercise classes three times a week for over 20 years.  

Originally teaching at the Baptist Church before it became Bizzy Buddyz, she now teaches at the Hockey Stadium.  

Her friends from her exercise class supported her through the end of her marriage of 33 years and helped her find a new house in town.

The RSA was another supportive force. She spent two years on the RSA committee and still organises the RSA raffles, plus serves on the RSA karaoke committee. Although she doesn’t sing herself, she does enjoy listening to others.  

“We have some good singers in Whakatāne,” she said.

The last decade has been bliss – with two of her sons getting married and the exercise group up and running – so it was a great shock to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer.

“I had a regular mammogram, and then was called back to Tauranga. Next minute there were biopsies and surgery,” she said.

She was under radiation a couple of weeks later.

“My aerobics group, as well as aerobics itself, got me through,” she said.

One week after completing radiation, she was back to teaching classes.

“Don’t get me wrong, radiation knocks you out. I’d run a class, then come back home and sleep.

“They tell you the best thing to do is to keep moving. They take the glands in your arm – so the pain is horrendous – but exercise is the best thing if you go at your own pace.

“I wanted to show others it could be done and didn’t want to sit at home and wallow in self-pity. That’s not who I am.”

Today, she is back and healthy as ever and has her hobbies of gardening and knitting, which she does by feel.

She loves visiting her seven grandchildren, who are in Christchurch and Tauranga. Stephen has Onyx, Ivy, Zoe and Mila, and her son Bradley has Jacob, Ella and Lucy.

“I love it. With grandchildren I can enjoy them but I’m not responsible for them, it’s a different sort of love,” she said.

Her family reunited in Whakatāne last year for her son Karl’s repeat wedding to his wife, with the first ceremony held in England.  

She has faced every challenge in her life with innovation, determination and community support, and plans to continue doing so.

“Life’s there to live, and so I get on with it,” she said.

October is Blind Low Vision Month

EVERY three hours, a New Zealander develops vision loss.

Today, over 193,000 Kiwis are blind, deafblind, or living with low vision – a number that is projected to soar to 225,000 by 2028 due to age-related eye conditions, such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetes.

As the impact of vision loss continues to escalate, Blind Low Vision Month (October) is raising awareness about the challenges faced by individuals across the country and the critical support needed to help them maintain their independence and dignity.

Vision loss affects people in diverse ways.

Some are born with visual impairments, while others lose their sight suddenly or experience a gradual decline over time.

Blind Low Vision NZ chief executive Andrea Midgen said it was important with the increasing number of Kiwis with low vision, that they were seen as people first.

“We encourage others to see the person not just the sight loss.

“One in five Kiwis will experience blindness, deafblindness, or low vision in their lifetime,” she said.

“For every person affected, the emotional, physical, and social toll is different.

“We want Kiwis to get behind BLVNZ and help us ensure that everyone can live fulfilling lives. This means access to everyday services, experiences and support to meet any challenges.”

Let’s work together to ensure no one is left behind.

Services provided by BLVNZ encourage learning to navigate life independently and help people face their future with confidence.

Donations enable BLVNZ to offer this crucial support to many individuals with vision loss.