Can you imagine being able to see perfectly fine your whole life and then one day have your sight taken away from you? This is exactly what happened to Belo Cipriani. He was stripped of the ability of being able to see just because he was a little bit different.

On Tuesday, November 6th, I attended a presentation where Belo Cipriani told his story about being blind and the adjustments that he needed to make. This traumatic event happened in the year 2007 while he was walking on the streets of San Francisco.

Belo is a gay, successful, Latino, man. He was walking along the street when he was approached by some childhood friends. “Right away they became aggressive,” Belo says. They started saying rude things and walking towards him. All of a sudden he was on the ground being beaten. He was kicked so many times in the head that his retinas detached and he became blind.

He says that it was a very hard time for him after the incident. He went into a time of depression, he lost some friends that just couldn’t handle the event. Over time, with the help of some friends and family, he got a hold of the fact that his condition was not going to change. He had to get used to it and change his ways of life.

Belo decided that he wanted to try to get a guide dog to help him. He started going through training, trying to find the right dog for him. He felt that he couldn’t trust his life with any dog. He was trying out a new dog, hoping that this one might be the one, and he was about to cross the street. He made the command for the dog to cross the street but the dog wouldn’t go. He kept pushing for the dog to cross but the dog wouldn’t budge. Finally the dog moved and they crossed the street.

Belo went to a person that worked at the guide dog facility. He told them that no dog was going to work. The worker told him that the dog had just saved Belo’s life. If the dog would have allowed him to cross the street, Belo would have been hit by a car. When Belo heard this, he was in shock. At that moment, he knew that he could trust that dog with his life.

His new guide dog was named Madge. Madge became not just a dog to Belo. She became a lifesaver, and a companion to Belo. He learned that the guide dogs are trained to understand our 70 facial expressions. Belo had some amazing stories about times when Madge saved the day.

Belo was in the Bart station late at night, when no one was around. He had his ticket in his hand and was getting ready to get on his train. All of a sudden a gust of wind from the passing train blew Belo’s ticket out of his hand. He had no idea what to do, no one was there to get it for him. Madge nudged his leg so he reached down to pet her. In her mouth, she had the ticket that had blown away. Madge had saved the day.

Madge was the best dog that he could have asked for. She pushed through crowds in the city, made sure he didn’t trip over things, she even made sure he didn’t slip when there was a “wet floor” sign. Madge made Belo’s time so much easier to adjust and get through hard times. “Madge to the rescue” is definitely an accurate statement. When times get hard, look to your friends and family, they’ll help you get through it just like Belo Cipriani did.