Sea change to one blind man’s view of the world

Joseph Stafrace puts on his wetsuit and air cylinder before he slowly disappears into the sea with his diving instructor. Standing on the shore at Għar Lapsi, Mr Stafrace’s guide dog, Macy, is agitated since he can no longer see the man he is trained to be with at all times. “Macy just wants to protect him and panics when he can’t… apart from that, he loves swimming,” says Mr Stafrace’s wife, Angelica, who stands near the dog waiting for her blind husband to return. She confesses that she too is concerned when her husband goes under water. “I worry when I don’t see the bubbles. But he was always an adventurous man and I try to support him as much as I can,” she said. Mr Stafrace, 41, is the type of man who will not allow his loss of sight stand in the way of his dreams. “I have been dreaming of diving. I like documentaries. I listen to them and pick up the information. Some time ago I was speaking to a friend who suggested someone who could help me dive. He then introduced me to my instructor, Patrick Tabone, from the Bluewater Dive Cove in Gozo,” Mr Stafrace says before taking the plunge. Aware that some might question the point of a blind man diving, he says: “By going down...