02/09/2026
Meet Tom, the incredible 18-year-old dad from Yorkshire who lost his sight in a catastrophic firework accident last November and is now training for the TCS London Marathon 2027.
Over the weekend, Tom’s road to London picked up a mountain, a podcast and a few thousand lads along the way 👀👊
Becoming a dad at 18 is life-changing on its own.
Tom was preparing for that change when, the day before his partner Sophie’s 12-week scan, the accident happened.
He suffered severe burns and injuries to his face, eyes, neck and hands and was airlifted to hospital.
He survived.
But he lost his sight.
The final photograph shows Tom bandaged in hospital after the blast. His injuries were considerably more severe than the photograph shows, but Tom has chosen to keep the more graphic images private. Please swipe with care.
Since then, Tom and Sophie have welcomed a beautiful baby girl, while Tom and his mum, Danni, have begun training for London together.
Danni has become his guide runner and will complete all 26.2 miles alongside him.
What Danni is taking on is enormous too. She will be there through every training mile, every setback and, ultimately, every step of the marathon.
Mum and Son are taking on London to raise money for Royal National Institute for the Blind.
The charity supported Tom after he lost his sight and he has described that support as “absolutely amazing”. He wants to give something back and help other people facing sight loss receive that support too.
They began with 3.5 kilometres.
Then five.
Now they are chasing PBs and building towards London together.
One of our team, Gav , joined Tom, Danni and her partner Ryan last weekend for one of their training runs.
Gav was completing his own daily 5k as part of a year-long challenge raising money for James’ Place UK in memory of our mate and Lads’ Advice co-founder, Corporal Steve Hughes
During those five kilometres, he met the lad beyond the headline.
Tom is funny.
He is smart.
He is sharp, thoughtful, emotionally intelligent and ambitious.
He reads people quickly, gives as good as he gets when the banter starts and has absorbed an extraordinary amount of change without allowing it to swallow his personality.
The accident changed life for everybody around him. His family have had to adapt to that change alongside him.
Tom has learned, at extraordinary speed, to navigate his own new reality while understanding what the people he loves have been dealing with too.
That emotional intelligence is unusual at 18.
Life has thrown plenty at Tom and, so far, his answer has been: game on.
Tom’s blindness matters. Of course it does.
It has changed how he navigates the world and means running now requires enormous trust and communication.
But it is also just one part of his life.
It is not the full measure of him.
Tom didn’t come across as somebody waiting to be helped.
He came across as somebody ready to make an impact, with plenty to offer.
So when Lads’ Advice Snowdon 2026 came up, we asked whether he fancied joining us.
His initial response was:
“Why would I want to do that? I can’t see the view at the top, can I?”
Fair point 😂
He is now mega keen.
Snowdon will be the first real mountain Tom has ever climbed.
No metaphor required.
He’ll also be coming onto the LadChat podcast when we re-launch later this year.
He can talk about the accident, blindness and running.
But honestly, Tom is articulate, charismatic and funny.
Whatever he chooses to bring to the conversation will be worth a listen.
The internet loves a comeback story.
The danger is that the person at its centre can begin to feel most valuable when they are overcoming something publicly.
Tom, you are doing extraordinary things with what happened to you, and that is massively impressive.
Just know this:
The accident, and the challenges you’ve chosen since, may show the world some of what is already in you.
They didn’t put it there.
London is a serious challenge, and we’ll be firmly behind you and your mum as you take it on.
But it’s a goal you have set for yourself.
It’s not an audition for your place among us.
We invited you to Snowdon and LadChat because you’re mega and we know you’ll fit right in with the legends who are already a part of our group.
The lads will have plenty to offer you.
And you have plenty to offer the lads.
The marathon is impressive, mate.
But so are you.
You already have your family in your corner.
Now you’ve got 7.5K blokes at Lads’ Advice in your corner too.
Welcome 👊💙
Next stop, Snowdon.
Then LadChat.
Then London 2027.
After that, whatever Tom decides comes next.
It’ll probably be mega.
Even if it’s a bit of a rest 😆
Follow Tom & Danni: Unfiltered across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for the training, the mountain, the marathon and everything beyond it.
If you’ve got this far, it’s clear you find Tom as inspiring as we do, so why not share this post and help his story travel further?
Cheers the boys 💪👊
