Shelly

Shelly grew up with visual impairment and lost her sight gradually during her twenties, which gave her time to adapt to the idea of getting a guide dog as soon as she needed one.

At 28 she was already partnered with her first guide dog, and Valerie is now her third.

As a social worker at the Migdal-Or charity, she works with young people in their twenties who, like her all those years ago, are now facing a lifetime of living with blindness. She teaches them independent life skills and motivates them to pursue academic studies or employment opportunities. 

Last year, Shelly’s previous guide dog, Diesel, passed away unexpectedly at 8-years old.

During the few months of waiting for her new guide dog, she was suddenly thrown back to those previous years of using a cane: “Walking in Tel-Aviv, pavements full of obstacles, construction everywhere – it was terrible, to not feel secure. I suffered so much using the cane again. Valerie saved me!”