The 16-year-old Orangeville resident has Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), which affects the eyesight of prematurely born babies. Jotham was born at 26 weeks and spent the first five months of her life in hospital, during which time she developed ROP.

“As a result, I have about 10 per cent (vision) in my right eye, so it’s like tunnel vision, like looking through a straw, and no vision in my left,” she said.

Because of that, Jotham is felt somewhat limited in where she can go by herself.

“I wouldn’t feel safe (travelling to Toronto) on my own,” she said. “I bring my white cane everywhere, but I kind of feel like a cane spells target.”

That’s all about to change.

In early January, Jotham applied to the The Lions Foundation of Canada, which provides dog guides to people with disabilities. The foundation also operates a centre in Oakville, Ont., where those receiving a guide dog can go to stay for a few weeks to work with a trainer and the dog they will be taking home.

Jotham dropped off an application during a visit to the centre with one of her teachers. While there, she had an opportunity to meet a couple of dog guides including a black lab named Hedda, which she “tried out.”

A month after that visit, officials from the centre came and did an assessment at Jotham’s house and, within a week, she was accepted into a May class at the centre.

Shortly after arriving in Oakville, Jotham met her dog guide.

“My trainer comes in with this little black dog and I said ‘Who is it?’ And it’s Hedda, the demo dog, so that was kind of neat,” she said.

For Jotham, the whole experience has been a bit surprising.

“I kind of thought there has to be some kind of divine intervention happening here,” she said. “I have friends at the school who have been waiting, and applied to different schools, and waited a while to be accepted to a school. For me, this all happened in three or four months from start to finish.”

A week from now, Jotham will “graduate” and bring Hedda home to Orangeville.

“I’m getting a life so that’s kind of paramount in terms of independence and freedom,” she said. “I can kind of go anywhere now and know that I’ll have the same opportunity as everybody else to go where I want, whenever I want. I know that I won’t be alone and I’ll be able to travel safely.”

Her mom, Lisa Jotham, feels the same way.

“It will open up the entire world for Laura to explore,” Lisa said. “She has always been an amazing kid and now her potential is limitless. Her and Hedda make a spectacular team. I have no doubt that the two of them will be accomplishing great things in the future.”

One of the first things Laura will be doing upon returning to town is taking part in the Purina Walk for Dog Guides in Orangeville on Sunday, May 30 to raise awareness and funds for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides program.

“Every little bit counts in supporting this program and this cause,” Laura said. “Anyone who can participate or support it in the smallest way, it has a big impact on someone’s life.” 

The local event is the brainchild of the Amaranth Lions Club.

“We supported dog guides in the past with just donations. We’re always looking for new ways to fundraise. … We thought we’d give it a try and see how it works,” said lead organizer Karl Pilatzke. “We have a goal of getting people out and getting people aware of dog guides.”

Pilatzke is hoping to see between 30 and 50 people — and their dogs — take part. There is no fee, and everyone is welcome to participate. Registration is at 9:30 a.m. at Fendley Park in Orangeville. The walk gets underway at 10:30 a.m.

“Everyone assumes it’s just for (visual impairments), but there’s a lot of other reasons they have these dogs,” Pilatzke said, noting dog guides are also trained to assist people who are hearing impaired, autistic or seizure sufferers.

“Hopefully, we can help people understand what the guide dog program is and how it can help people in need.”

For more information about The Purina Walk for Dog Guides, call 519-941-6345 or email .

Walk for Dog Guides takes place May 30

Mark Sedenquist and Megan Edwards’ California home was destroyed by a forest fire in 1993. Instead of rebuilding, the couple bought an RV and took to the open road, traveling across the U.S. and Canada for almost seven years.

The couple has since settled in Las Vegas, but they continue to take driving vacations and encourage others to do the same on their website, RoadTrip America, which they run through Flattop Productions, their small business. Sedenquist and Edwards estimate they’ve traveled over 650,000 miles.

To identify the nation’s scariest highways we sought advice from Sedenquist and Edwards, as well as from Marree Forbes (no affiliation with Forbes Inc.), who runs the site American Driving Vacations, and Robert Dolezal, author of The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips.

Angeles Crest Highway (California)

Located in the California interior, this highway heads northeast through the mountains from Los Angeles. Much of it is a two-lane road on which motorcycle and sports car drivers love to speed.

Outside of Key West this roadway turns into a two-lane bridge that crosses an expansive body of shallow water that reflects blinding sunlight. On top of that, “it’s really tough for the driver to stay focused because everything around you is so blue,” Sedenquist says. This stretch of highway is also troublesome during hurricane warnings because it is the only way out and gets packed with evacuees.

U.S. Route 50 (Nevada)

Called “The Loneliest Road in America” by Life in 1986, this Nevada highway is eerie because there is so little around it. “It’s not uncommon for more than 30 minutes to pass before you spot another car,” Dolezal says. “It brings out all those UFO and buzzard-circling fears, along with more reasonable ones about your car breaking down.”

Interstate 70 (Colorado)

I-70 through Denver has one of the highest passes on all the interstates, and its steep hills can be extremely slick in the winter. In bad weather “you just stay in your lane, don’t touch your brakes, and hope you make it to the bottom,” Sedenquist says.

Saddle Road winds through the Hualalai and Kohala Volcanoes, and much of it is comprised of only two very narrow lanes. To make things worse, some of its bridges are only one-way, meaning drivers must take turns crossing–but they don’t always follow this rule.

Summer travel – beware of US scariest highways