It would clear up with months of ointment, which was a relief. But it did shake me up a bit to think that I had nearly poked out one of my ogen – eyes. Imagine going blind, imagine being blind.

Severine D’Hondt is blind and works as a part-time receptionist at a hotel in the middle of Brussels. She lives in Antwerp and travels three days a week to the capital by train. In the stations, they know her: “Ik val natuurlijk op, als blinde met een hond" – I stand out, of course, as a blind person with a dog.

How Severine got her job is worth telling. Her brother works in the hotel branch, so she phoned the HR manager and told him that she was planning to send him een solicitatie – an application for a job as a receptionist. She told him she was blind and asked if ze haar kandidatuur persoonlijk mocht komen toelichten – she could come personally to explain her candidacy. Clearly, she’s not backward about going forward. She was offered the job there and then, but first she wanted to check that her Windows- Eyes software worked on the hotel computers, which it did.

She does what any receptionist does: inchecken – checking in, uitchecken – checking out, telefoontjes doorverbinden – putting phone calls through. Sometimes when she asks how a guest spells their name, the guest will say: “Het staat hier toch" – But it’s here. She then says simply: “Ik kan niet lezen, ik ben blind" – I can’t read, I’m blind.

Very occasionally, Severine doesn’t hear when there’s someone in front of her. She used to apologise by saying: “Sorry, ik hebt u niet gezien" – Sorry, I didn’t see you. Now she simply says “Ik ben blind.”

You’re probably thinking that the poor girl does pretty well but three days is all she can take. Well, Severine has another life, that of a singer and uses the name Severine Doré. She sang in the selection for the Eurovision Song Festival in 2002. Now she has a career singing at receptions and company dinners. “Ik hou van mensen – I love people.”

So if you are in Noordstation late in the evening and you see a woman with her guide dog, help her by shouting out the platform number of the next train to Antwerp. By the way, her dog is called Branco.

www.severinedore.be