BLIND COACH ‘FIGHTS BACK’
Disability no barrier to success
MICHAEL COOPER has a true fighter’s spirit. The Toowoomba man has battled a debilitating eye condition as well as mental health issues and beaten both.
Now the Toowoomba man is helping others win their own battles as a martial arts coach. Completely blind in his left eye and with 25 per cent in his right, Mr Cooper said teaching Muay Thai is another way of proving doubters wrong. And he does it all with his black labrador guide dog Cody, who he received with support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme, by his side.
DIAGNOSED with Corneal Keratoconus in 1987, a disorder of the eye which results in progressive thinning of the cornea, Michael Cooper was told he would eventually go blind.
Despite his shocking diagnosis, Mr Cooper overcame his challenges and took up martial arts in a bid to live the best life he could lead.
Struggling to come to terms with his vision loss, Mr Cooper had a significant mental health episode in 2007.
In the years that followed, his mental health continued to deteriorate, and he gained weight rapidly.
“When I weighed myself, I was 157kg and I thought I have to do something here,” Mr Cooper said.
“The weight gain was due to pain and being on all the medications.
“It came down to thiswas I going to sit at home, stagnate and become a recluse, or was I going to step out and challenge the world and make my situation better?”
That was when Mr Cooper
made the decision to take up Muay Thai.
“I got in and trained hard and got to where I needed to be,” he said.
“I went out full guns blazing and I went from 157kg to 94kg.”
In 2015, after more than three decades of eye surgeries, Mr Cooper made the tough decision not to go any further with operations.
“After 32 years of surgeries, I decided to let nature take its course. I then was able to put the supports and structures in place that I needed to further my life,” he said.
“It was the best decision I ever made.”
Now fighting fit and enjoying life, Mr Cooper is back in the ring, instructing at Team Ngapuhi Muay Thai gym in Toowoomba.
Mr Cooper accessed the National Disability Insurance Scheme after it arrived in Toowoomba in 2017 and became the first person in Queensland to be approved for a guide dog.
He received his black labrador, Cody, a few months later.