The character arc of Lucy Edwards
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in Birmingham in the 1990s. Between then and now sit the loss of sight in her right eye at eleven to a genetic condition, the loss of the rest at seventeen, a relationship two months old at the time that became a marriage, A-levels completed, law school left behind, a BBC journalism traineeship, a Radio 1 first, viral videos explaining how a blind woman lives, a memoir, a childrens novel, a Barbie campaign and a Copenhagen catwalk. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Lucy Edwards?
Seventeen, and the light went. She narrated everything after.
She lost the sight in her right eye at eleven, to incontinentia pigmenti, a genetic condition. She lost the rest at seventeen. She had been going out with Ollie for two months when it happened, and they married years later, and at the wedding she had her guests and her husband put on blindfolds while she walked down the aisle, so that her own way of experiencing it was the one everybody had.
She completed her A-levels at college and went to law school, and then left it because of her mental health. That is the hinge. What she did instead was train as a journalist at the BBC through their Extend programme, and in 2019 she became BBC Radio 1 first blind presenter.
Alongside it she had been posting since early 2014 under the name Yesterdays Wishes, vlogs about blindness and accessible makeup tutorials. She started on TikTok around the beginning of the pandemic and a lot of it went viral. She was in TikTok Creator Spotlight campaign and its 2020 list of a hundred, joined its UK Creator Council in 2021, and by 2024 had 1.8 million followers.
Then the rest of it arrived quickly. Brand ambassador for Pantene in 2021. A campaign in September 2022 on the lack of audio description for television, film and theatre and on inaccessible website design. A Eurovision podcast for blind and partially sighted fans on BBC Sounds in May 2023, filming in Japan for The Travel Show that October, and a charity Christmas single in December.
In April 2024 she published a memoir, Blind Not Broken. In July she signed with Scholastic for a childrens novel with a blind protagonist, and appeared in Mattel campaign for their first blind Barbie. In August she walked for Sinead O Dwyer at Copenhagen Fashion Week with her guide dog, the first blind model to do it. In October she was one of three winners of The Estee Lauder Companies Catalysts programme, and is using the funding to build an intentionally accessible beauty brand. She lives in Birmingham with Ollie, her former guide dog Olga and her guide dog Molly.
The moments
Lucy Edwards's timeline.
The 2000s
One eye at eleven
Setback, and it changed everything. Eleven years old, and half of it gone.
The 2010s
The rest at seventeen
Setback, and it changed everything. Seventeen, and the light went out.
Two months in
Everyday, and it changed her direction. A relationship eight weeks old, and it held.
She leaves law school
Setback, and it changed everything. The plan stopped, and nothing had replaced it yet.
Finish law, or start over
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave, and train as a journalist, taken, or push through the degree. She became BBC Radio 1 first blind presenter in 2019, and everything since has come out of that decision.
Yesterdays Wishes
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A camera, a bedroom, and makeup tutorials done without sight.
The BBC Extend programme
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A second plan, and this one was hers.
Radio 1 first blind presenter
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first, in fifty years of the station.
The 2020s
TikTok, and it goes everywhere
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Short videos explaining how a blind woman does ordinary things.
Ambassador for Pantene
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A mainstream beauty brand, with a blind woman as its face.
Campaigning on access
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She used the platform for the thing it was for.
Eurovision, described
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The most visual show on television, made listenable.
Blindfolds at the wedding
Everyday, and it changed her direction. For one walk, everybody was in her world.
Blind Not Broken
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her own account, under her own title.
A novel, and a Barbie
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A blind heroine in a childrens book, and a blind doll on a shelf.
First blind model there
Milestone, and it changed everything. She walked the catwalk with her guide dog.
The Catalysts award
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A beauty brand designed from the start to work without sight.
She is building a beauty brand designed from the start to be usable without sight, which is a thing that did not exist and now will. What she set moving is a whole industry being asked, by somebody it wants to work with, why it kept making things that half its customers cannot use.
Your turn
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Lucy Edwards: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Lucy Edwards's character arc?
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What was Lucy Edwards first at the BBC?
What has Lucy Edwards written?
Did Lucy Edwards model at Copenhagen Fashion Week?
What is Lucy Edwards building now?
Where does this timeline of Lucy Edwards's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Lucy Edwards, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Blind Not Broken, her 2024 memoir.
- Her own statement about her IVF decision, as quoted there.
- Her BBC, TikTok and modelling credits, as listed there.