Blind rider to tackle 5,000km Bicentennial National Trail

Rowena Dowling was a registered nurse working in a busy Brisbane hospital when she lost her sight almost three decades ago.

The avid horse rider was born blind in her left eye but had managed well with full sight in her second eye until she was diagnosed with glaucoma in her 20s.

“I actually was born blind in one eye for an unknown reason, but it was never a disability for me,” Ms Dowling said.

“I had good vision in my right eye,”

She said despite numerous surgeries, and daily eye drops, the condition of her right eye became worse.

“I was on a shift at nursing, and I noticed that my vision was deteriorating during the day,” Ms Dowling said.

“I didn’t say anything to my nursing colleagues. I rang my brother and said, ‘I’m sorry, can you come and pick me up from work? I can’t see well.'”

Ms Dowling underwent more surgery, but the prognosis she received from doctors changed her life.

“I remember coming out of the surgery, and I opened my eye, and I couldn’t see anything,” she said.

“I had no perception of light, so I’d gone from having deteriorating low vision to having no vision at all after the surgery.

“I would rather be dead than be blind.”

Support needed for ride of a lifetime

The renewed passion for horses has sparked a big idea for Ms Dowling — to ride the Bicentennial National Trail, a 5,330-kilometre journey from Cooktown in Far North Queensland to Healesville in country Victoria.

Ms Dowling said it had been a dream of hers since she was a child.

Key points

• Rowena Dowling says she didn’t think she could ride again until finding an equestrian disability support worker
• Ms Dowling is preparing to ride her horse more than 5,000 km along the National Bicentennial Trial
• The Sunshine Coast rider needs supporters to help guide her on the ride to Victoria

Source
ABC News