A group of volunteers and others with Southeastern Guide Dogs participated in a walkathon Saturday for the Palmetto-based agency that provides dogs free of charge to the visually impaired and veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder and other disabilities such as hearing loss, seizures, and balance issues.
LAKELAND — Shauna English was happy in her job at Florida Southern College when she developed blurred vision, the result of optic nerve strokes in both eyes.
Forced to give up her job in the registrar’s office, the Lakeland woman had to rely on a relative for housing. She gave up driving and learned to get by on disability income.
A year later, in 2015, English developed glaucoma in her right eye and it was surgically removed.
She maintains a spirit of optimism and has learned to navigate about town on her own two legs with help from a furry, four-legged friend named P.J.
“P.J. is a light in my dark world,” said English, 42, who maintains some limited sight in her left eye. “I would still be inside of my apartment with the doors closed (without him). I’m extremely grateful.”
English related her story Saturday before a gathering of volunteers and others associated with Southeastern Guide Dogs, a Palmetto-based agency that provides dogs free of charge to the visually impaired and veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder and other disabilities such as hearing loss, seizures, and balance issues.
Saturday’s walkathon around Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland was a fund drive for Southeastern, which breeds dogs and relies on volunteers to raise them for a year or more until they’re ready to be trained for a variety of jobs.
Only about 40 percent of Southeastern’s pups have what it takes to be a guide for people like English. The rest are provided to veterans with various disabilities, or for bomb-sniffing and other duties, said Taylor Dechen, the nonprofit organization’s associate director of philanthropy.
“It takes tens of thousands of dollars to raise a guide dog,” she said. Saturday’s walkathon, the third in Polk, set a goal of $55,000.
It takes an army of volunteers to offset costs of raising the dogs, a job that attracted Deborah Esquerra of Lakeland, who was on hand for Saturday’s fundraiser, her female yellow Labrador retriever, Bealla, by her side.
“I’m totally in love,” she said of the young Lab that she will be forced to give up in a year’s time. “I’m sure it will be hard, but she’ll go to someone who needs her.”
For information about Southeastern Guide Dogs, call 941-729-5665, or visit www.guidedogs.org.
Eric Pera can be reached at eric.pera@theledger.com or 863-802-7528.