Today is the International Day of the Guide Dog. As I write this, my very own guide dog, Nino, is sleeping on the floor next to me. I don’t think he’s really asleep though, because when I said his name in the previous sentence, he made a noise, as if to say: what are you wanting now?
As someone with a visual impairment, and also someone with a brain injury, I feel very privileged to have such a loyal companion at my side. People who have met me in the past fourteen months have also met Nino. They have no other choice, because wherever I am, he is with me. We are inseparable. I wouldn’t want to be without him, and I’m sure it’s mutual.
So, what does he do for me? Well, I have neither time nor words to explain it all. I hear people call their guide dog their eyes, and I completely understand that. But when someone says that to me, I tell them that for me, he is more like my replacement brain! All those little decisions that you have to make when you are out: will the person coming the other way move aside or will I have to do that myself? Can I fit in that small gap? Where is the pedestrian crossing, and the button? Am I a bit too close to that curb? These are all decisions that I no longer need to make. I can turn off my sight, so to speak, or at least not have to pay attention to it, because there is always someone there who will gladly take over for me.
As long as I know where I am, where I need to go, and how to get there, that’s enough. I sometimes get asked how Nino knows the way. He doesn’t! What he does know is how to guide me safely through the streets, between the people, the litter bins, the bicycles, the lampposts, the café terraces, the mopeds parked on the pavement, the shop signs, the low hanging branches, the holes in the ground, the stairs and so much more. And that’s more than enough for me.
Be First to Comment