35 year old Jeremy lost his vision over two decades ago, due to a genetic optic nerve disease. At just 15 years of age, imagine the fear, worry and distress, this had on the young teenager.
“In a six to eight week period, I went from having perfect vision, down to about 2%. I can only see shapes about a metre away. Everything’s really, really blurry,” Jeremy explains.
But Jeremy has an incredibly optimistic view of his vision loss journey. His passion for living life to the fullest and his drive to succeed despite the challenges he faced is evident.
“When I was losing my sight, I was going through a very scary, sad, unknown period of my life, and especially for any 15 year old, it’s a challenging time. And that’s where I kind of realised, “Okay, this is how life is now. I have to accept it. I still have my arms and my legs. What can I do from here on to be happy and positive and focus on the good things?”
So Jeremy turned his focus to sport, in particular swimming and he aimed high. Within a couple of years, Jeremy hit the pool at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. He followed this up with another three Paralympic appearances.
Despite his success in the pool, there was something still missing from Jeremy’s life. In his twenties, Jeremy felt he was relying on other people to help him live independently, which often left him uncomfortable. As a result he would try to hide the severity of his vision loss.
Jeremy decided to contact Guide Dogs WA, and he met two Guide Dog Mobility Instructors with more than four decades experience training and matching Guide Dogs with Western Australians living with low or no vision.
In Jeremy’s words the trainers are “selfless people, it’s like people that are nurses. They’re a certain breed of person. They want to do something which creates such a positive impact on other people’s lives.”
Enter Jeremy’s first Guide Dog Presley. And as Jeremy describes “it was amazing. Life was so much different after that. It was just a lot more comfortable. It was independence tenfold.”
Your gift today will help raise and train more life-changing Guide and Assistance Dogs for Western Australians like Jeremy.
Guide Dog Presley, enriched Jeremy’s life for many years, before his retirement and Jeremy knew, he simply couldn’t return to life before having a Guide Dog.
Today, Jeremy and his Guide Dog Nina are the perfect pair. Nina is Jeremy’s faithful companion, helping him navigate the world around him whether that be finding the seat on the bus or train, guiding him into work or to the shops and giving Jeremy the ability to take his one year old daughter for a walk.
“For me, a Guide Dog was predominantly used for the element of getting around, not as a companion, but then afterwards, once you meet them, you can’t give them back. You fall absolutely in love with them. They do become your companion and your best mate,” says Jeremy.
Jeremy knows he has kind Western Australians like you to thank for bringing Presley and Nina into his life, allowing him to do so much more within his community.
“A massive thank you. A Guide Dog has such a huge impact on blind and vision-impaired people’s lives. It creates that sense of worth, safety, independence and happiness.”
Please donate now and give more Western Australians the independence and freedom that comes from having a special companion in their lives.
Thank you for helping Guide Dogs WA to change the lives of Western Australians through the gift of a Guide or Assistance Dog.
