Sailing with Sully
From diving in darkness to sailing in the sun
The dark depths of the sea—a place of preparation and foreshadowing. Navy Sailor Ed Burton started his 28 years of service as a diver. His rigorous training included diving with blacked-out glasses, a tactic meant to prepare him for duty. He never expected it to train him for everyday life.
When he left the Navy, he returned to a world of darkness. His vision gone. A reminder of the life-long effects of his time in Vietnam. “I always say that the Navy trained me to be blind,” Ed says. He navigated life with a cane, brushing off the many suggestions to get a guide dog. You’ll be happier; you’ll have more independence, his wife, Betty, assured him.
I’ll be fine, Ed thought. He hoped.
Until the day he stepped off that sidewalk. The moment everything changed. His cane tapped the ground, finding no objects. Silence. Time to cross. Ed stepped onto the road and was instantly hit by a car, suffering a broken leg. Through months of physical healing, he knew without a doubt that a guide dog would not only bring him happiness, but safety.
That’s when Ed’s journey with Dogs Inc Inc began, almost 20 years ago.
“As soon as I met my first guide dog, I thought, I should have done this a long, long time ago,” Ed says. Now, his third life-changing companion and guide, Sully, leads the way.
“It’s pure magic how these dogs are matched with me to perfection,” Ed says. Freedom to venture through life, and a burden lifted from his wife who now finds comfort in knowing Ed has independence with Sully. Whether cruising on the sailboat or lounging on the dock, they sail the seas of life, together.
“When I wake up each morning, it still may be dark for me, but with my wife and Sully,” Ed says, “I think . . . okay, I can survive another day. Life hasn’t stopped.”
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