Aware that he was going to lose his sight later in life, Mr Pampling taught his son to drive when he was only six years old. He also bought a service station in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where his son was completing an apprenticeship. In 1985, Mr Pampling's son, who was two weeks off his 18th birthday, died in a workplace accident after the forklift he was driving fell down a gully and the canopy caved in on top of him. Mr Pampling sold the service station and moved to Brisbane to learn how to use a cane. He also brought his saxophone with him. In 1988, the newly relocated Brisbane resident took his saxophone into Queen Street Mall and began playing some of the 1950s dance tunes he had played countless times before in regional Queensland pubs and clubs.

“The rest is history and I’ve been there ever since,” Mr Pampling said. "Busking gave me a reason to get up every morning and go to work. "It was just the sheer fact I enjoyed music and it was something I could do. It’s not very interesting watching grass grow, especially when you’re blind. "There were some days when the remuneration would be better than others, some days I could get $5, other days I could get $10. "But many people came up and told me how they appreciated the music, especially older people who said the music reminded them of when they were young and used to dance to similar tunes."

Mr Pampling has become a local icon after busking six days per week for the past 30 years, with business owners and strangers in Queen Street Mall helping him whenever they could. "I feel the people of Brisbane and Queensland that I’ve met have been so generous and friendly and helpful," he said. "I’m sitting in there playing music and I only have to say 'could you get me some dinner or lunch please?' and I always get a 'yes, what would you like?' in return." "I ring Oasis Juice Bar just about every day and order a Hamilton Heaven smoothie, which they (the staff) bring over to me. "The owners of the Myer Centre Carvery and Seafood shop send up fish and chips to me at least once per week.

"FantAsia also took a picture of me and put it in their store because they said I had won a competition. "They gave me a book of vouchers, which allowed me to get one free meal per week and all I needed to do was call and they would bring it up to me. "It ended up being closer to three free meals per week for more than 12 months - they’ve been absolutely fabulous to me." Mr Pampling said some days the mall can be busy, but there won't be many "throwers" so he won't be given much money. Other days, the mall can be quiet, but there will be plenty of throwers. When he's not busking, Mr Pampling has been working with vision-impaired schoolchildren, teaching them how to use special computers which can talk and tell them what is on the screen.

The program, run through Link Vision, has grown from nine students to 72 and evolved into a computer club for vision-impaired children. After going into hospital for a hip replacement recently, Mr Pampling had to end his involvement with the Link Vision program. A GoFundMe campaign was also set up to support him because he was "having trouble with finances and buying food", according to the campaign creator Benjamin Webb. It was also established to raise awareness that this year was Mr Pampling's 30th year of busking in Brisbane. More than 400 people raised in excess of $12,000, just one day after the page went live. “I feel so humbled," Mr Pampling said.

"This has never happened to me, every cent I've ever received in my life, I’ve worked for. "I've never gone into Queen Street Mall with a certain amount of money I needed to get, I've just picked up whatever was thrown at me. "When Ben called me yesterday and told me the crowdfunding website he had set up was already up to $500, I was speechless. It’s been better than generous." Mr Pampling said he was "blown away" when told on Friday that the campaign had surpassed $10,000. "I’m moving into a retirement village at Taigum soon," he said.