Blind woman’s independence returns with arrival of guide dog
Published: May 16, 2006
A new feeling of independence walked into Oil City resident Sandy Montgomery’s life two months ago.
Literally.
It arrived on four legs in the form of a 2-year-old yellow lab retriever crossbreed guide dog named Lundy.
The Oil City councilwoman is legally blind, having suffered nearly four years with the effects of diabetic retinopathy. The condition damages tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina. High blood sugar levels associated with diabetes often affect the blood vessels, and in some cases, mild vision loss can occur; in others, blindness.
“I was always very active - very independent. I was used to hopping in the car and going somewhere. And all of the sudden to have that independence taken away from you. Overnight, it was taken away,” Montgomery said.
It started three and a half years ago when she drove herself to Greensburg in Westmoreland County to meet friends on an antiquing sojourn. The next day, she considered having someone pick her up because suddenly, everything was blurry.
She couldn’t read a stop sign. And traffic signals also were a chore.
“I probably shouldn’t have driven home, but I did. The next day, I went to the emergency room,” she said. “I didn’t really know what was happening.”
Both eyes were hemorrhaging.
Today, Montgomery has no peripheral vision and no depth perception. From her seat at one end of Oil City Council chambers, the farthest she can see is the front row of the public seating area - maybe 15 feet ahead of her.
She said her sight may never get worse and treatments through the years have helped stave off further blindness.
But it never will get better, Montgomery said.
EASING THE REALITY OF BLINDNESS
Lundy has helped ease that reality.
“There have been tears and anger and asking myself, ‘Why me,’ ” Montgomery said. “My family and my support system of friends haven’t allowed me to feel sorry for myself. And that’s not me anyway. You just have to adjust and do it. … I’m enjoying what I see now. I’ve gotten to see my grandchildren.”
Jim Joyce of the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services in Erie, has helped the North Side resident learn to use a white cane and physically cope with decreasing vision. She eventually heeded his advice to get a guide dog.
“He said I’d be a good candidate for a seeing-eye dog,” Montgomery said. “My initial thought was that I didn’t want to take a dog away from somebody with no sight at all. But most people who get dogs still have some sight.”
Guide Dogs for the Blind of San Rafael, Calif., accepted Montgomery and she arrived on its campus for a one-month stay in March. The trip would be her longest time away from home, friends and family.
A PERFECT PAIR
She arrived on a Sunday. Lundy and the councilwoman were a pair by that Wednesday. After an initial evaluation, she made it clear that her new, constant companion must be able to lay quietly for long periods and do well with strangers.
“They did a perfect match,” Montgomery said.
Immediately she was in charge of grooming Lundy, feeding him and taking him outside in the morning to relieve himself.
“He was with me 24-7,” she said.
Montgomery, her classmates and their new guide dogs started most days around 5:30 a.m., followed by classes and discussions. Classroom work folded over into real-life, hands-on lessons throughout the San Rafael and San Francisco areas.
“They tried to give us all the experiences you would have (at home with the dogs),” Montgomery said.
Guide dogs and their new partners learned to negotiate stairways, elevators, overhead obstacles, crowded sidewalks, subways, escalators, busy streets, country settings and a college campus. The dogs, some of which have years of training with volunteer “host families” before pairings with their new owners, are trained to avoid distractions and disobey commands to cross a street if traffic is approaching.
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