Could you see the world through different eyes?

How much do you value your sight? It's how you see the world. Distinguish colour. Make observations. It helps you communicate, learn, get around and experience new places.

But what if your ability to see the world could be gone - within weeks?

This was the experience of 23-year-old Guide Dog Owner Jeremy McClure and many other people throughout WA who are blind or vision impaired. Some are born without sight or, like Jeremy, have lost their sight due to accident, illness or disease.

More than half a million Australians are blind or vision impaired*. At the Association for the Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA, we help Western Australians like Jeremy who are blind or vision impaired to lead full, rewarding and active lives by providing Guide Dogs and a wide range of other essential services.

We help people to get to school, work or the shops; to surf the net; manage in and around their home; and to be part of the community.

But each year we see the incidence of blindness rising dramatically. It can strike anyone at any time. No one expects it to strike them or their families, but it can and does.

Guide Dog Owner Jeremy lost 98% of his sight in just 10 weeks due to a genetic condition. For a healthy, active and confident teenager like Jeremy, the loss of his sight was devastating.

"I remember the exact moment when I knew something was wrong. I was crossing the street near my school, and I noticed that buildings and signs in the distance were blurry. After a few weeks, I couldn't read anything on the whiteboard. And then it got to the point where I couldn't even see my teacher."

In the weeks and months that followed 15-year-old Jeremy faced challenges at home, school and in day-to-day life. Among these was the reality that he could no longer get around independently.

"When I realised I couldn't get around by myself anymore, I worried about what could happen. You could say I was in denial. I thought ‘This isn't me; this isn't my condition'. But I had to face the fact that it was."

If there is one thing that Jeremy's story highlights, it's that no one is immune to vision loss. It could happen to you, or to a family member, friend or colleague.

To help Jeremy get around, we provided him with training to use a white cane, and later, his Guide Dog Presley.

"Presley is amazing. The number one factor for me is that I feel safer with him. I used to train competitively in swimming and I work in Subiaco, so it's really important for me to be able to get around. He's really helped me travel around the city and be independent."

Through Presley, Jeremy has learned to see the world through new eyes. Since losing his sight he has explored the world, travelling to every continent except Antarctica, which is next on his list.

Each Guide Dog costs up to $35,000 and takes more than two years to train. While we provide Guide Dogs free of charge to our clients, we receive no government funding for our Guide Dog Program.

We provide services to more than 4,000 people around the State each year. And this is only a small percentage of Western Australians who experience vision loss. There are many more; Jeremy is just one of more than 40,000 Western Australians who are blind or vision impaired.

There are many ways to see the world, be it through your own eyes, or through the eyes of a trusted friend and companion like a Guide Dog.

Can you change the way you see the world, even just for a moment, to consider the difference a Guide Dog can make to the life of someone who is blind?

* Clear Focus - The Economic Impact and Cost of Vision Loss in Australia 2009.