iD Mobile & CHI's Hard-Hitting New Campaign

Mobile network iD and agency CHI&Partners London today launches Blind Fighter, the fourth in their Do Your Own Thing campaign, a series of films exploring the lives of extraordinary individuals who have turned to inspirational methods to regain control over their own lives.

Previous films have focussed on Gary Stocker, a man who became a human cannonball, and a female, Muslim rap duo called Poetic Pilgimage who are challenging the stereotypes of the genre.  

This new series, called Blind Fighter, directed by Ben Hanson and Simon Frost through CHI&Partners’ in-house production company Carbon, is a three-part short documentary examining the compelling story of Lee Hoy, a 28-year-old man from South Shields who has used mixed martial arts training to turn around his battle with blindness.

Born with congenital toxoplasmosis gondii – a parasite which damaged his retinas in the womb - Hoy was registered blind from birth. Working with CHI&Partners and iD, Hoy explains how he grew up battling incomprehension about why he was different, and subsequently struggled with low confidence and anxiety into his adulthood, before waking up one day and deciding to take up mixed martial arts as a way of turning his life around.

In the series, Hoy describes in his own words how the sport has helped him rethink his relationship with fear, taking on his own inner demons and using self-defence as a way of building his self-confidence and self-belief.

“We wanted to capture the reality of life for Lee, and emphasise the struggles he goes through, which is why we’ve used techniques like blurring the picture and keeping the viewer in semi-darkness," explains Micky Tudor, the creative partner at CHI&Partners. "An undercurrent of controlled energy runs throughout the series, spotlighting the strength and pride Lee has built up by facing his fears and learning to excel in this empowering sport.”

Each of the documentaries in the series was created and produced specifically for Facebook native video, using high-impact visuals to grab people’s attention as they scrolled through their newsfeeds, encouraging them to click and find out more. The campaign is supported on social media by content agency AllTogetherNow, CHI&Partners’ sister agency within The&Partnership.