Written by: Donovan Tildesley
Photos: Bruno Long
Many have said that I’ve has accomplished much in my 35 years. I’m a 35-year-old Vancouver native with a BA in English Literature from the University of British Columbia, and I work full-time as an insurance broker. I’m also an accomplished swimmer who has travelled the world extensively. In the winter, I love nothing better than to rip down Double-Black Diamonds on Blackcomb Mountain.
But there’s one more thing you should know about me: I am totally blind, and have been since birth. I was born with a condition known as Leiber’s Congenital Amaurosis, which left me without retinas.
Despite this fact, my parents were determined to expose me to any and all activities that a sighted child would be a part of. They first put me in the pool before I was six months old, and by age nine, I had joined my vert first swim team. Three years later at a provincial competition in Kamloops, I first heard about the Paralympics.
Intrigued, at twelve-years-old, I made it my mission to one day compete in the Games. Fo