Together we can achieve anything

Lizzey is 22 and has been blind since birth. A vivacious and ambitious young lady, Lizzey volunteers at Radio Adelaide as an on-air presenter and hopes to work in the radio industry one day.

She’s such a go-getter and has so many hobbies and talents, but despite her active lifestyle Lizzey recently admitted that even though she thought she was managing really well on her own, once she got her Seeing Eye Dog Lacey she realised how limited she had been before.

I remember saying, ‘I will not ever, ever walk on a train platform by myself, but now I have Lacey I am not scared anymore”

Seeing Eye Dog Lacey has changed Lizzey’s life has helped her overcome her fears and given her the confidence to become completely independent.

For Lizzey, her Labrador Lacey has allowed her to move more quickly and navigate obstacles with more reliability and safety than she could when she was using a cane. Lacey is also trained to use her own initiative to stop at roads and navigate train platforms to move Lizzey out of the path of danger.

Just as importantly, Seeing Eye Dogs provides constant companionship, alleviating the possible effects of loneliness and depression and contributing to a better quality of life. This has certainly been the case for Lizzey and her Labrador Lacey, for whom it was practically love at first sight when they met.

“As soon as I met Lacey I thought, ‘This is my dog, she is an extension of me, she is like me.’ I knew straight away this was the dog for me, there was no hesitation. And so ever since then I’ve just embraced her with open arms and we’ve been a great team together.”