Blind crocheter gifts 100 blankets to thank hospital that saved her sight

Eliz Sandalls reached a milestone that says as much about persistence as it does about crochet: she completed her 100th wellbeing blanket for Bradford Royal Infirmary’s maternity unit on Feb. 2, 2026. The Ilkley resident, who is registered blind, has built a steady donation practice around blankets that hospital staff say are warm, snuggly and brightening babies’ cots and wards.

The story began with sight loss and surgery, not with a charity drive. Sandalls lost sight in her right eye in 1987, then had further serious problems in her left eye in 2023. Surgery at Bradford Royal Infirmary preserved some of her remaining sight, and Sandalls says that made it possible for her to keep crocheting. After her husband died, she moved to Ilkley in 2021 to be closer to her only daughter.

Her routine is practical rather than flashy. Sandalls provides the wool for the blankets herself, with Abbeydale Residential Care Home paying 20% and Sandalls buying the rest. She also said she enjoys walking into Ilkley to buy wool, and she keeps going because crochet gives her something to do when reading books is no longer an option and talking books make her sleepy. That kind of built-in habit is what makes a donation effort last: the materials are lined up, the project stays manageable, and the finished pieces have a clear destination.

Before each blanket reaches the maternity unit, it is gift-wrapped in individual bags. That extra step matters. It keeps the blankets ready for distribution and gives the donation the kind of care that hospital wards notice immediately. Bradford hospitals said the women and newborn service uses donated items to support families, and the blankets fit that need by going straight to mothers and newborns who can use them.

Midwives Sophie Wainman and Katie Hurley visited Sandalls at Abbeydale Residential Care Home on Grove Road to thank her personally and give her a hamper of treats. For Sandalls, the point is simple: she gets satisfaction knowing the blankets are going to good homes. For the maternity unit, they are not just handmade gifts, but a repeatable model for how one crocheter can keep a hospital cupboard stocked one blanket at a time.