Deacon Fisher, 18, from Bury St Edmunds overcame some incredible life changing health issues to achieve a Distinction in his Level 3 Musical Theatre course at West Suffolk College.
Following a diagnosis of Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, a condition causing progressive central vision loss,
Despite this, he has not been deterred, and he has mastered new skills and passed his course – and will now be progressing to a level 4 course at West Suffolk College as he continues on his acting journey.
On gaining his Distinction, Deacon said: “I’m genuinely so happy with my results, and I’m immensely glad I got to come here to learn and progress.”
On his experience at West Suffolk College, Deacon said: “In the first year, I hadn’t become blind yet. But even coming in and learning everything about this new environment and doing musical theatre full time – which I’ve never had a chance to do before – was great. Everybody was so supportive in the growth that we got. And then the second year when I came back and I was blind, everything just became more supportive. It was already incredibly supportive, but they catered to whatever needs I had immediately. There was nothing but a welcoming community and I’m so glad for that, because I don’t think I would have gotten the grades I had if I wasn’t in the environment I was.”
Deacon said: “One of my favourite moments was getting to go on stage as Colonel Mustard in our production of A Spot of Inconvenient Death: A Cluedo Revuedo.”
On his next steps, Deacon said: “I’m going to come back here for a level 4 course because at the moment, I’m still learning to live with my blindness. It’s quite new to me. So, I’m staying at home while I adjust to the lifestyle because before I go to university I want to learn how to live independently.
“In the long term, the West End is a massive dream of mine and I’m really glad to have woken up today and been one step closer. My dream show would be to play Jamie in The Last Five Years.”
