A FLINTSHIRE woman who is registered blind has had a poem she wrote about lockdown published in a book.

Nikki Sibeon, from Greenfield, has a rare degenerative genetic sight condition which will eventually leave her without any central vision.

But the 29-year-old psychology student doesn't let that get in the way of her passion for writing.

And her poem, titled 'Stay Home', has been included in a recently published book called 'Poems for a Pandemic: Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances' - a selection of poems about the Covid-19 pandemic.

The book is available to buy on Amazon - proceeds of which will go to NHS Charities Together for their Covid-19 appeal.

Nikki, who says she has found the lockdown particularly tough, wrote about the need for everyone to stay home, protect our NHS and help save lives.

She said: "I'm usually out on the ice rink at Deeside Leisure Centre, but haven't been able to do that or see any of my friends there for months.

"With the time I've had and the anxiety I've been feeling, it was a good time for me to start writing some things down on paper - particularly about my sight loss.

"Some of my poems about sight loss have been made into audio books and apparently blind people really enjoy listening to them as obviously they can resonate with the poems."

After finishing her Open University degree, Nikki wants to go into counselling people who - like her - have developed a disability, as opposed to being born with one.

She said: "I found with my condition there wasn't really any help or support out there, so I want to be able to help people going through similar things."

Nikki Sibeon's 'Stay Home' poem:

The NHS need our help, they need us to listen to them,

Stay at home and protect the sick,

Lets stop the spread of Covid so we can all put on a spread,

The nation is on lockdown what will we do the nation cries,

Stay at home so we don’t have to say our goodbyes,

There is a rule that one exercise a day is ok,

A walk, run or bike ride will do but be sure to return to your home,

People say it’s only the vulnerable at risk,

But that’s not right as we are all vulnerable to this,

So for goodness sake stay home and stop the spread,

Once this is over we can spread our love for one another,

But for now we need to stay home to protect the NHS and save lives!