Lives that Make a Difference

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Lives that Make a Difference​

Many people consider a hero to be someone who is courageous, someone who saves lives, someone who snatches victory from the jaws of danger. However, there exists a different type of hero, one who inspires, one who overcomes all odds, and one who shows that anything is possible. This man is Donovan Tildesley, a blind swimmer who was the flag bearer for Canada during the 2008 Paralympic Games. Donovan has shown Canadians that one does not need eyes to have vision; one only needs hope and a dream.

Donovan Tildesley, a man born and raised in Vancouver, started swimming competitively at the age of nine. He was born without retinas, but this didn’t stop him from swimming. When blind people swim, they need a tapper, which is the name of the person who taps the swimmer’s head when the swimmer is about to hit the wall. For Donovan, his tapper is usually his father or his coach. Previously, Donovan has smashed his head into the wall before, either from not feeling the tap or the tappers forgetting to tap him. Donovan is currently the world record holder for the 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle. For a person who has been blind his entire life, such an accomplishment grants him immense satisfaction. In 2008, Donovan Tildesley was the flag bearer for Canada in the Paralympics. As he walked, he needed to be led by his father, as he could not see where he was walking.

This man is truly a hero and inspiration for all Canadians. Most people, if they were blind, would feel that living such a life would be impossible. Most people would be scared and without confidence, as they have never experienced pure darkness, with no known end to it. With vision, people can set limits and boundaries on where things are and what they look like. For a blind person, they cannot see how big or where an object is; they must rely on other aids. By overcoming this psychological hurdle, Donovan has evolved from a weak man into a powerful athlete. A person with sight may think, “If a blind man can hold a world record, what is stopping me from achieving my current task?” By looking at his achievements and the obstacles that he had to overcome, Canadians can push themselves forward and strive to become better. While Donovan is not a hero that drastically changes Canadian society, he is making a difference in life because he makes people think that, perhaps, there is hope for an ordinary person to achieve their dream and do something extraordinary.

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