Graduate Profile: Greg McLaughlin and His Yellow Labrador

No More Elbows, Please

Greg McLaughlin has lost a lot over the past year or so, first his wife of 26 years died and just two weeks later, Greg’s sight was gone just as fast.  He decided to take charge of his life so he took a year off from his work as a pastor and learned the skills needed to deal with his blindness.

But McLaughlin wasn’t having much luck with mobility, it was vanity that kept him from using a cane and in his words, “I was tired of relying on elbows to get around.”  So he made the decision to get a guide from Southeastern Guide Dogs.

McLaughlin came to Southeastern in May and was matched with a handsome yellow Labrador named Bob. McLaughlin sees similarities in their personalities, both are independent and great fun to be around and during the training they learned a great deal about one another and really cemented a bond.

Now that McLaughlin is back home in Hickory, North Carolina we have no doubt he and Bob are getting back to nature.  Living in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains, there are several hiking trails around beautiful lakes that McLaughlin was looking forward to using again and now with Bob to guide him, he can safely do so.

“It is so easy to sit down and say ‘woe is me’ when something like this happens, but I want to get out and get motivated,” McLaughlin said.