Woman urges respect for those with disabilities, guide dogs during awareness month

By Lucas Nelson

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    BUNCOMBE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — September is National Guide Dog Awareness Month. In honor of these four-legged friends and the people they serve, News 13 Photographer Lucas Nelson spoke with a local woman who says people should show more compassion for those with disabilities.

At age 30, Karen Leonetti was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with a six-inch tumor on her heart. She underwent 15 weeks of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant at the Moffitt Cancer Center.

She was in isolation for six weeks. After that, she required 15 days of radiation.

Leonetti says doctors didn’t know to cover a patient’s eyes from radiation back in 1993. It resulted in Leonetti’s diagnosis of bilateral optic nerve atrophy. She said it’s like only having 10% of the millions of nerves typically in a healthy optic nerve.

Karen has been happily married since 1984, and her husband has supported her emotionally through her health challenges. After two broken bones from falls due to her low vision, the couple decided to pursue a guide dog to help her gain her confidence and independence back.

Leader Dog For The Blind in Rochester Hills, Michigan, filled the ticket for supporting Karen with her Leader Dog in May 2021.

The guide dog’s name is Shanti, but her “stage name” is Gidget. Leonetti says the dog is called Gidget in public because she doesn’t want everyone to know Shanti’s real name.

“Just to have her by my side, knowing that she’s those extra eyes for me she’s very helpful. She just loves me, and we play together,” Leonetti said. “Twenty percent of our time together is working, 80% is play time.”

“People have said to me before, you know why don’t you get your eyes fixed, and it’s like I can’t get my eyes fixed. I have bilateral optic nerve atrophy from chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant that I had 30 years ago,” she said. “So, it isn’t something I can get fixed, and I think that is really something to keep in mind that there’s wide ranges of low vision.”

Karen’s husband, Dan, says it’s very different that he has vision and she doesn’t.

“An unbelievable experience one could ever have, we’re going to give you a dog, and you’re going to go into this large room with tables and chairs scattered everywhere, and you’re going to experience what you’re wife Karen goes through every day,” Dan recalled.

“People are not treating her the way they should, and you know it’s about awareness,” Dan said. “So, Karen is trying to bring this all back to what it should be.” Karen says the world needs more compassion, particularly towards people with disabilities. For example, she said if drivers see her out, she asks they not drive by and beep their horns because it can be very frightening.

Thanks to Leader Dog for the Blind, Leonetti was able to receive Shanti at no cost to her. She encourages more people with low vision to get their forever friend, too.

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