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ALEXIA MARSILLO alexia.marsillo@eap.on.ca Daniel Gervais may have lost his eyesight, but he found his purpose organized.” Gervais began to work in admi- nistration at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in 2009.
After complete loss of his vision, Da- niel Gervais found his way through the hardships to a life of advocacy and raising awareness for accessibility. Daniel Gervais, a Rockland resident, and his guide dog Leo recently appeared on an episode of Animal Planet’s “Collar of Duty.” This documentary series showcases the sto- ries of service dogs and therapy animals that have helped changed people’s lives. This is just one example of the way Gervais has been showcasing his story and raising awareness for accessibility, guide dogs and blindness. Gervais, who is in his 30s, was born with Wagner’s Disease, a hereditary eye disorder that also affects most of his familymembers. Gervais lost the vision in his left eye at a very young age, when the disease took effect and his retina began to tear. As a teenager, just after beginning high school, the same thing started happening to his right eye. After multiple surgeries in the span of a few months, doctors were able to save Gervais’ retina, leaving himwith low vision, or tunnel vision, for the next 15 years. In 2002, Gervais got his first guide dog and after that was able to focus on his career choices. “I had to figure out what skills I had, what kind of career would be best suited for me,” he said. “Administrationwas best suited for me since I love technology and working with people – I’m very sociable and very
With his tunnel vision, Gervais was able to carry out his life and his job, with the help of certain tools, such as magnifying glasses and special magnetizing software for his computer. In 2011, however, complications arose as a result of his previous surgeries and, after two ruptured blood vessels in his right eye, Gervais lost all of his sight and was officially completely blind. “So, I took a couple of years off on medical leave after that. As you can imagine, it was a very traumatic and hard time,” recalled Gervais. “It was a very tough pill to swallow, those were the dark chapters. It was almost like a grieving process, won- dering ‘What do I do now?” Gervais recounts the bouts of depres- sion and suicidal thoughts that consumed him during this time of his life. His support system – his parents, his siblings, and his goddaughter – all helped himget through it. “Having that image of my family, I decided I wasn’t going to give up,” he added. “I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and with a lot of work, a lot of patience and a lot of help, I started setting myself new goals.” In 2012, after his first guide dog retired, Gervais got Leo, who he still has today. He also resumed his administrative position at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. “All the visual tools I had were useless now,” explained Gervais. “Now I use anything that
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Après la perte totale de sa vue, Daniel Gervais, un résident de Rockland, consacre maintenant sa vie à la sensibilisation à l’accessibilité, aux chiens-guides et à la cécité. M. Gervais, qui est dans la trentaine, est né avec la maladie de Wagner, un désordre héréditaire de l’œil, qui affecte également la plupart des membres de sa famille. M. Gervais a perdu la vue de son œil gauche à un très jeune âge et, en 2011, il a perdu la vue de son œil droit, devenant ainsi non-voyant. Maintenant, M. Gervais croit qu’il est destiné à aider les autres à traverser cette épreuve. —photos fournies
talks to me. I went from the visual world to the auditory world, which was a heck of a shock.” Slowly but surely turning his life around, Gervais also started to expand his roles at work by beginning to test projects and tools used at the agency in terms of accessibility. “I’ve taken amore active role in raising awa- reness about accessibility, about guide dogs and about blindness,” remarked Gervais. Over the last ten years or so, he has given several presentations at guide dog schools, as well as presentations about accessibility in other departments at work. Most recently, he and Leo appeared on Animal Planet’s “Collar of Duty” and Gervais gave a presentation at the CanadianWar Museum for International
Day of Persons with Disabilities. “This role for me now is not just a side thing anymore,” revealed Gervais. “It’s also integrated in my job; my bosses encourage me to raise awareness about accessibility and what I’ve been through.” Gervais could have never imagined his life turning out the way it did, but he is open to any new experiences and opportunities that may come his way. “Now, I believe that I’ve lost my eyesight so that I can help other people through it – I helped my niece rise up to her vision loss,” said Gervais. “Everything I’ve been through has brought me to where I am today, all the struggles I’ve gone through have evolvedme to where I am now.”
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