lol @ you guys...
It's a pre-hyperspace ship. Meaning from before there was hyperdrive. People were probably put into hibernation because the trip took so long, but Anakin was floating in space for far longer than he should have, so he has a particularly bad case of hibernation sickness. He doesn't have a memory of any time before that, as he was put there as a small child, and has been raised by the Lars family ever since. It's a mysterious beginning to his life, and one that can be explored throughout the prequels.
That's only one idea, of course. I chose the blindness angle because it seemed to fit well with the radio drama medium, and would give the audience and Anakin a point of similarity.
Besides, ANH raised many more questions than it answered, and the OT still holds up perfectly well with the audience imagining what came before.