Local Legends: Blind ambitions

Andrew Mathieson
BLINDNESS has robbed Jessica Gallagher’s failing eyesight but there’s certainly nothing wrong with her vision.
After capturing a bronze at the winter Paralympics skiing flat out down the face of a ski slope, anticipation of another medal at the 2012 summer games either throwing a javelin or jumping into a sand pit are quietly hidden behind Jessica’s deep blue eyes.
It’s not entirely surprising she can adapt from the chill to turning up the heat on her next competition.
Just months after being the first Australian woman to win a winter Paralympian medal, the 24-year-old was straight back training beside an athletic track with an eye on the next two years.
The skiing novice, used to overlooking Highton’s green hills from home, remembers copping a frosty reception from hardened North Americans and Europeans on the medal dais.
“They weren’t very happy about when I won a medal,” she chuckles.
“You know, the Aussie girl from the summer country who hasn’t been skiing very long.”
Jessica contracted a rare genetic mutation that has sent her genes awry. The degenerative condition of conedystrophia has been with her since birth but wasn’t first diagnosed until she was 17.
“I’d always done well at school, so there was no reason to think I would have visual problems,” Jessica says.
“I’d seen quite a few optometrists during my teens and none of them picked it up.
“Then when I started Year 12 I started getting massive migraines and was struggling a lot from pure eye strain.”
A doctor eventually found she had colour-contrast issues. Tests later determined she was legally blind.
To put it in perspective, Jessica’s quality of sight has dropped from 12 per cent to eight over the past seven years. Doctors expect it to decline further.
Her peripheral vision is the best because when Jessica looks straight ahead, she only recognises outlines and shapes rather than detail.
When she could see clearly representing Victoria in under-16s basketball and netball in both and serving as an emergency for Australia in netball was just the start of her loftyy ambitions.
“Since my eyesight deteriorated, it has become harder and harder to shoot goals and catch passes because of the speed of the game,” Jessica explains.
While there is still a glimmer in the eye, playing netball with friends is still an option.
Jessica was so good despite being legally blind back in 2007 that she still took out Leopold’s A-grade best and fairest – even after missing six of the team’s 18 matches due to alpine skiing commitments.
“It sounds funny but I have excellent hand/eye coordination even though there is a fair bit of eyesight missing,” Jessica reckons.
“I can make up for it in other areas like my athleticism and even though I can’t see the ring fully I’m still able to score quite accurately.”
Eyesight was a problem at the 2008 Paralympics where tests revealed Jessica’s right eye was 0.1 degrees from legally blind.
The hard work was all for nothing, she ponders.
“It was very bittersweet,” Jessica regrets.
“I would say I would give all my Paralympics up in a second if someone was able to give me my sight back.”
These days Jessica’s biggest concern is changing body position from lunging forward when skiing to keeping upright in her pet summer events javelin and long jump.
Jessica last year completed a masters degree in osteopathy after several injuries drew the new doctor toward the treatment.
Losing her sight also killed off a prospective career in the law.
“I didn’t want to be spending my life with eye strain, migraines and headaches from having to read case studies, books and computers,” she says.
“Osteopathy seemed the perfect fit because your hands do the work, not your eyes.”
Magnifying words is a daily battle as Jessica struggles to read signs in public.
She also surrendered driving with her L-plates, but she hasn’t been the best passenger, either.
“I got into the wrong car once at a service station,” Jessica giggles.
“Someone had moved the car and another car pulled up, so I jumped in the back, looked around and saw a different family.”