A triumphant search for sight

This Week’s Winner

Ricardo M. Lee, Jr., of Bantog Caricutan, La Paz, Tarlac, has been a corporate accountant for more than 20 years. He’s held teaching positions at Holy Cross College, Concepcion Branch and Interworld College, Tarlac City, specializing in Business Administration, Finance and Accountancy. He enjoys reading, correspondence, chess and martial arts.

When Sheila was four, she went down the house garden path, and opened the gate’s latch. She called out to the children: “Hello! Can I play with you?” One of the boys answered. “No, you couldn’t play if you tried, Cross Eyes.” She asked her mother, “What does ‘Cross Eyes’ mean?” Her mother replied, “It’s a naughty, rude name.”

One time, Sheila’s mother left her riding one of the wooden horses on a merry-go-round. The girl ended up in the Lost and Found corner of the carnival, where her mother later found her.

In her childhood days, these things were familiar occurrences. Despite her handicap, Sheila tried doing things that other children did. Sheila rode a tricycle around the garden even though she frequently bumped into chairs and tables. At another time, she secretly rode her brother Graham’s new Hercules bike and — because of very poor eyesight — hit a side road lamppost. It took Sheila a long time to pay for the repair out of her daily school allowance.

The family’s home was moved to Nottingham, England during Sheila’s junior high school year. Pierpoint Secondary Modern was located on top of a hill. Despite her poor eyesight, Sheila walked to school every day. It was on one such occasion that a little mongrel dog took to her and vice versa. She thought that sometimes dogs could be better companions than humans because the mongrel would always walk to school and accompany her.

In school, she could see just enough to read and write. Sheila couldn’t see the writing on the blackboard. However, she did especially well in history and science.

During her teenage years, one night at a school dance party Sheila was left on the dance floor by her partner. She was saved from embarrassment by one of her girlfriends who joined her. When the school year ended, the school guidance counselor recommended Sheila take up a career as a switchboard operator. She had undergone training at the government training center at Long Eaton, where she was taught how to work a telephone switchboard. So Sheila worked as a switchboard operator. It was at this time, at age 19, that her Braille teacher, Mr. Brown, convinced her to apply for a guide dog at the training center at Leamington Spa. The English Guide Dog Association assigned her a dog named Emma. At the center, it took Emma and Sheila one month to adjust to each other, until they were able to walk together. After some time, Sheila learned that Emma gave her a certain freedom, not only to go where she liked, but also to do what she liked.

Sheila enrolled in an evening class on “Writer’s Craft.” Meanwhile, living in an apartment, Sheila realized how close a bond had grown between she and her dog. Emma would follow Sheila about, and never let her out of her sight; they seemed to have developed an instinct for knowing one another’s thoughts.

Once, Sheila had a near accident when a speeding car crossed their path. A few seconds before the incident, Emma instinctively leaped in front of Sheila and, backing her legs up vigorously, saved Sheila’s life. 

Through Emma’s help as a dog guide, she was able to broaden her social horizons. In promoting the Dog Guide Association, Sheila talked about the Training Center, often on radio programs, and explained what Emma had come to mean to her. Often, the organizations they visited gave donations to the Guide Dog Association and raised money for others to purchase guide dogs.      

At Radio Nottingham, while appearing on a special program called Wednesday Club, Sheila met her future husband Don Hocken, a podiatrist with a deep and gentle voice. They fell in love.

After a period of dating, and the many lonely nights before, Don married Sheila. As Don held Sheila’s hand, he was trembling; she was trembling, too. Sheila could barely say “I do” in front of the registrar. Then it was over.

Inside Sheila, there was a small voice insisting, I’ve got to see. It was only when she thought of the possibility of having sight again, that the frustration and sheer hatred of being blind arose. Now, those very hopes began to rise in Sheila.

She had herself examined and the doctors said it was a case of congenital cataract. A Dr. Shearing performed surgery on Sheila’s eyes. After a brief rest in the hospital, the bandages were removed.

As soon as Sheila opened her eyes, she was struck by the brilliance flooding the room. She saw a vivid blue, and then a lot of different greens. She was overwhelmed and spellbound. She heard the nurses say, “Can you see? Can you see?” Sheila was terrified, and covered her eyes; she was in tears.

When Sheila saw Emma for the first time, she put her arms around her and saw her wagging tail, ”Oh, Don,” she cried, “She’s beautiful.” Don and Sheila were particularly lucky, for on December 21, 1976, a baby daughter was born: Kerensa Emma Louise.

After six anxious weeks, Sheila watched as Kerensa grabbed for a toy and gurgled happily. In amazement and relief, Sheila cried, “She saw it! She can see! She can see!”

Don and Sheila lifted Kerensa out of the crib, and they held each other close. Emma saw what was happening and joined in, her tail wagging. “She can see!” Sheila and Don repeated, again and again. All their dreams had come true.

The story has touched my life because Emma and I, by Sheila Hocken, is the true and inspiring story of a young woman’s triumphant search for sight.

Sheila’s acquaintance and friendship with an intelligent brown Labrador changed her entire life.

The author and her guide dog learned to understand each other, play together and work together in perfect harmony.

It is a story of how a pet dog brought to its owner a miraculous freedom, the chance to go out into the world, to live a full and useful life, to be saved from death, and later to enable Sheila to meet the man she was to marry, Don Hocken, a podiatrist from Nottingham, England.

It is a woman’s dream-come-true story, brought about by faith, determination and perseverance, and the happiness she found with her husband Don and their daughter, Kerensa Emma Louise.

The story deserves to be read and reread for its gentle humor, informative candor and exuberance.