Father’s Day is a day to show our appreciation to our fathers and father figures. It’s a chance to tell the men who raise us that we value them. It’s a chance to reflect on being a Dad and having a Dad. The world is full of amazing fathers and Grant Baker is one such man.
Grant is a proud father of seven and an inspirational person. Not only is he a personal trainer at 52 years old but he has won two Kick Boxing world titles despite having very low vision. Grant has an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and he has a Seeing Eye Dog, called Fender, to help him get around independently.
When Grant was 16 he first started to notice problems with his eyesight. Due to his resourceful nature he was able to carry on with his failing vision doing most of the things his ambition was driving him toward.
He became a successful personal trainer, started a family and pursued a career in kickboxing, which resulted in two world kickboxing titles. “Back then they didn’t test your visual field to compete in kickboxing.”
After nearly two decades of living with an undiagnosed eye disease Grant was finally diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) RP is a genetic eye condition that causes the Retina to degenerate which results in progressive sight loss and sometimes complete blindness
"My philosophy in life is to make do with what you’ve got. I didn’t even think about it when I was diagnosed with RP. I just feel blessed to still have some vision” says Grant. In recent years Grant has become a motivational speaker and talks about overcoming life’s challenges by telling his own story.
Grant has undertaken fundraising for charities. The Harcourts Foundation recently gave Grant $5,000 to donate to a charity of his choice after he gave an inspirational talk at an event. On behalf of the Harcourts Foundation, Grant donated the $5,000 to support Vision Australia’s Accessible Information Library.
Grant has been a Vision Australia client for a year. In that time he has received a Seeing Eye Dog. Grant’s four youngest children stay with him every weekend. Vision Australia Orientation and Mobility staff gave Grant advice on safe ways to cross the road when with his kids and also provided him with tips on daily living challenges, like how to pour hot drinks safely.
“It’s a great service” says Grant of Vision Australia, “I want to do what I can to support and promote awareness of the organisation.”