What happened to Ron Hall's eye? Love Island star's injury and blindness explained
20 January 2025, 17:13
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Ron Hall, 27, is returning to Love Island All Stars in 2025 as he joins a host of famous Islanders looking for a second shot at love.
After taking part in season nine of the show, Ron made history as being the first ever visually impaired contestant on Love Island.
As he appears on our screens once again, fans are keen to learn more about Ron's eye injury and what he has said about his blindness.
What happened to Ron's eye, is he blind and what does he think of his injury? Here is everything you need to know.
What happened to Ron's eye?
Prior to taking part in Love Island Ron opened up about his eye, revealing a childhood accident was the cause of his injury.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk back in 2023, Ron explained: "When I was about eight, I was playing football. I was in a match and the ball basically came over, I went down to head the ball, and he went up with his foot and basically knocked me out, detached my retina.
"I went to hospital the next day, they said it was a detached retina and it should be fine. I had a load of operations, I don’t know what happened with it all but it became very severe and the operations weren’t working, we didn’t pick it up quick enough."
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Is Ron Hall blind?
Due to this injury Ron is blind in one eye, with the 27-year-old having to go through multiple surgeries as a child to try and save his eye sight.
"I can even remember how many operations I had between a year and two years, probably 10, 12 plus. I’ve got a silicone wheel in the back of it, I’ve got a buckle in the back as well. By operation six or seven, they were like, 'Look, you’re not going to get your sight back', so for me it was about making it look as normal as possible."
He added: "Obviously I was a kid at the time, I didn’t really want pain but from the age of eight to 18 it was extremely painful. It was almost like someone was poking you in the eye all of the time.
"But for some reason, and we have no idea why to this day, when I was about 18 or 19 the pain just stopped. I could open my eye properly, I can look into sun with no sunglasses and be absolutely fine, it doesn’t water."
What has Ron said about his eye?
Despite the pain he has been through, Ron has a rosy outlook on life, stating: "There are so many people who are worse off than me.
"You just have to look at the positive side of things. Yes, when you’re younger, I used to get called pirate and Popeye, but my Xbox name when I was a kid used to be Ron One Eye and we’d make jokes about it all the time.
"So, for me, the fact that I was making jokes and me and my friends were always making jokes, you become very comfortable with anyone who says anything and I’ve never really been impacted by bullying."
He also explained how his confidence has grown over the years, explaining: "When I was younger I was a bit more self conscious when it came to taking pictures because it used to close up a little bit. Even now, when I’m talking to a camera I’ll have a little head tilt because I’ve naturally developed a head tilt.
"Sometimes I can look centre camera and my eye could look slightly right, but it’s all things I pick up on. When you look in the mirror, everyone picks out certain bits [about themselves] but whether other people notice it or not, it doesn’t bother me at all. Hopefully, people can see that I’m myself and still confident and my own person."
Ron was keen to make a difference in the blind community, revealing: "I’ve never really thought about having a community around me, I’ve not known anybody with the same thing.
"If I met a 12-year-old boy or girl who was blind in one eye and didn’t know how to deal with things or is having trouble, I would love to spend time with them and talk them through how I dealt with it after 17, 18 years of having it and how I think it’s been amazing.
"Obviously we all wish we had two eyes that work, you have to look after your senses, but [I’d teach them] how to use it to your advantage, how to be confident, how to not let it or people impact you.
"If I’m on [Love Island] for a day, a week, the whole show and – I’ve never really thought about it – but if there is one person sitting at home that’s been through similar and is thinking, 'Oh, he’s really confident going and talking to girls about his eye', or, 'He’s telling everyone about it like it’s absolutely nothing', that’s insane for me.
"It doesn’t feel real that that could be a thing, it would be amazing."
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