Charity helps visually impaired children learn to skate

TORONTO – A Vaughan charity is helping visually impaired teenagers learn how to skate and play hockey.

When Mark DeMontis lost his vision at the age of 17 to a rare condition, his dreams of making it to the NHL came to a halt.

But that didn’t keep him from the game.

“I wanted to start something where we could have boys and girls, like I did growing up, get that opportunity to play and skate and actually be part of our national past time,” Mark DeMontis said.

In 2008 DeMontis founded Courage Canada, a national charity to teach boys and girls who are blind or visually impaired how to skate and play hockey.

Over 250 people participate in Courage Canada across six provinces.

Children in various district school boards across Canada participate in the annual event that allows the kids to work one on one with instructors.

Though leaning how to skate is a big part of Courage Canada, what the kids get out of it is so much more, according to a Toronto-area teacher.

“They come out and do an activity that is normal and regular and talked about in society. They get to move, they get to skate, they get to feel like they are ‘normal’ and it’s fantastic for them,” Stephanie Sommer, a regional vision resource teacher said.

The charity also has an off ice session where the kids are able to learn other skills.