Martha McClelland's previous guide dog retired and she says she has lost her independence as a result.
Martha McClelland, who is originally from California in the US but now lives in Londonderry, lost her sight completely two years agoA visually impaired woman living in Londonderry has said she feels like a prisoner in her own home, waiting more than two years to get a new guide dog.
Mrs McClelland, who is originally from California and moved to Derry 50 years ago, has applied for a new guide dog but has still not got one. A guide dog's average working life is six to seven years and they are normally retired at about 10 or 11 years old, depending on their health and the amount of work they need to do., the charity's head of guide dog service operations Maria Rogan said the pandemic halted both the breeding and training of new guide dogs right across the UK."It's one we are working tirelessly to overcome, and meet the needs of everyone on our waiting list".
Both Ms Rogan and Mrs McClelland are hopeful a new initiative being run by Guide Dogs Northern Ireland will help people waiting on a guide dog.These are people who help visually impaired people, like Mrs McClelland, reconnect with the community by going on walks and out shopping with them."If I could get a guide while I'm waiting to get a new dog that would be wonderful," Mrs McClelland said.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Martha Stewart blasted for using actual iceberg in cocktail during swanky tripYes, seriously.
Read more »
2nd wind developer moves to terminate its contracts off Martha's VineyardAnother offshore wind developer took a major step Tuesday toward scrapping its initial plans for an installation in waters off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. SouthCoast Wind, whose pair of successful bids represented a combined 1,200 megawatts of anticipated offshore wind power, agreed to pay utility companies $60 million to terminate contracts the parties previously struck for the clean energy….
Read more »
Fishermen find ancient half-blind shark that can live for 500 yearsThe shark was found by researchers and local fishermen off the coast of Belize in Central America.
Read more »
Watch: Driver who gave cyclist inches to spare in unsafe overtake winds up in courtGoPro footage has recorded the moment an Audi driver gave a cyclist just inches to spare as he overtook on the approach to blind bend.
Read more »
Woman found dead as man, 47, & woman, 49, arrested for ‘murder’COPS have arrested two people on suspcion of murder after a woman was found dead at a Rotheram home. Emergency services yesterday rushed to the house in Rawmarsh at 3.30pm where the body of the wom…
Read more »