Woman and guide dog tackle canal walk

Partially sighted Tracey's three week towpath adventure

A GUIDE dog and grateful owner will be stepping out along local waterways this month, to raise funds for Guide Dogs.

Tracey Clarke and her black Labrador guide dog Oakley will walk from Bath to Reading, a three-week journey of 75 miles in total, setting off along the Kennet and Avon Canal towpaths on Saturday.

Born with no functional vision in her left eye, Tracey was registered blind in September 2011, when her right eye deteriorated.

This was three years after she and her husband Tim decided to realise their dream of living on a canal boat. Mrs Clarke said that she was “truly devastated” on receiving her blind registration certificate.

“The news seemed like a massive blow. How could I possibly live on the waterways if I couldn’t see?

“Over the following few months I became increasingly down-in-the-dumps, withdrawn and disinclined to go out.

“Crossing roads became very hazardous and frightening. This, combined with all the bruises I got from bumping into street obstacles, led me to simply not go out anymore, as it was easier and safer to stay in and manage without, than to try to get to the local shop for even so much as a pint of milk.”

Since qualifying with Oakley in November 2012, she said her life had changed beyond her dreams, and she had regained her independence.

Learning to put implicit trust in an animal had proved “an incredibly humbling and astonishing process”, she said.

“Oakley is not only my guide, but also my soulmate, my comedian, my shadow, my fitness coach – we worked up to walking around six to eight miles a day – my lifeline and, on several occasions, my lifesaver.”

Leaving Bath, they will pass through Claverton, Bradford-on-Avon, Devizes, Pewsey, Hungerford and Newbury, before arriving at Broad Street, Reading, on Saturday, July 25.

Sponsor them by visiting justgiving.com/tracey-clarke2. Text OAKS85 10 to 70700.