StemCell Therapy

A Halifax photojournalistonce facing blindness from a rare disorder is celebrating the news that after many painful surgeries, his vision is safe.

"I got the notification [Wednesday] that all the treatments they've done have fixed everything. I'm back on track and my vision is now 20/20," Darrell Oake said from his home in Cole Harbour, N.S.

In 2011, he was diagnosed withGuillain-Barrsyndrome, a rareautoimmunedisorder that can cause weakness and paralysis. He spent a week in intensive care, barely able to move, before starting to rebuild at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre.

With the help of family and friends, Oakerelearned how to walk and got back into limited action in his work as a freelance photojournalist. But in 2014, he learned blood vessels were leaking into his eyes, causing him to "cry" when he wasn't cryinga sign the disorder was now taking his vision.

Oake's son Cordel doubles as his model for this thunder cloud photo. (Courtesy Darrell Oake)

He embarked on a long course ofeye surgeries. "He did it the least invasive way he could, but it was still very painful," Oake said. "I dealt with the pain and muscled through it."

He said it's like having "new eyeballs."

"I'm still able to pick up my camera and shoot my children doing whatever they're doing, go out and enjoy nature and I can record something."

He shared some of the photos he's taken while reclaiming his vision, and they're posted throughout this article.

While most people diagnosed withGuillain-Barr syndromemake a full recovery, Oake said a pre-existing medical conditionmeanshis after-effects are lingering. He has little feeling below his knees and while he can walk, he must do so carefully. He once stepped on a carpet tack and walked with it in his foot for hours.

"I have to watch every step I take," he said. "I could trip over a pebble and break something, and if I break something, I'm doomed."

Eagle-eyed Oake snapped this bird perched and looking for lunch. (Courtesy Darrell Oake)

It would take more than semi-paralysis and the threat of blindness to keep Oake away from his camera. He fell in love with photography when he was 12 and his dad was stationed with the military in the U.S. Oake went into the attic and found an old camera. He was hooked.

His photographyearned him the nickname Flash in high school and many friends and colleagues would struggle to come up with his first name.

As he can't chase breaking news, he's focusing his lens on nature and his family.

"I can sit in a ditch, take a picture of one flower, and take a picture of everything around it, and be happy and content for hours."

A surfer looks on as a huge wave breaks on a Nova Scotia beach. (Courtesy Darrell Oake)

His wifeLeanne, Oakeadmits, gets "bored out of her skull" accompanying him at times, as he needs to have someone with him when he's out.

"It says in the vows, for better or for worse, sickness and health. Well, she's gone well beyond any of those vows," he saidof his partner of 23 years.

"She nursed me back to health. If I had something I needed to have changed, she changed it. If I needed to have a feeding, she fed me. If I need somebody to lean on well, I'm leaning on her more than just my marriage vows. I'm literally leaning on her."

A seagull enjoys a bite of crab on an icy day. (Courtesy Darrell Oake)

His teenage sons are likewise always ready to step up when their father needs something. Oake has helped himself by taking a stoic approach to his predicament.

"You can't control what happens in life. You take what life gives you. I was taken down, I got back up, and I'm going to continue on. My epitaph on my tombstone is going to read:'He wasborn, lived, loved, died.' That's all life is. I'm like a duck it just rolls off my back. I don't let it get to me.

"What's it going to do? It's going to make me miserable. I don't want to be miserable. I want to be happy."

Oake shared advice for others facing hardships. "Don't give up. I don't care if it's cancer, ifit's GBS live your life to its fullest. Don't let it take you down," he said. "If I died tomorrow, I'd die happy knowing my wife was there for me, my kids supported me and all my friends supported me.

"I got it. It's past. I'm moving forward to the future."

Oake captures the moment a blue jay captures her lunch. (Courtesy Darrell Oake)

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Photojournalist once facing blindness celebrates return to 20/20 vision - CBC.ca

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