Sven´s Story Sven Fiedler was born in Rottweil in 1967 and since his birth has suffered from Usher syndrome, a congenital disorder which made him deaf. He also suffers from irreversible retinal degeneration - in 2010 he became almost completely blind. From that point on he could no longer practice as a professional draftsmen.

Sven:“Many, Many years ago when I was still partially sighted, I watched a programme on TV about the Camino de Santiago (St James’s trail). It was fascinating to me, I had to experience it. But, due to my deafness, I didn’t really understand where the pilgrimage was. The scenery, the weather, the animals I saw and the language they spoke were not European to my mind. I thought they were on the other side of the earth.. in America, Canada maybe even further. It was a dream I had to forget, it was too far!

After that my eyesight got worse, I was blind by the end of 2010. I went to Hanover for rehabilitation which lasted 14 months. The leader of the centre was called Mr Jacobs, that reminded me of my dream* so I told him about it. It was a dream I’d left in the past as it was impossible for me to go to the America. Mr Jacobs told me that it wasn’t that far, it was here in Europe, in Spain. I was speechless..  But it was still just a dream; I am Blind and Deaf... just a silly dream!

At the end of 2014 I was on a weeklong trip to the Black Forrest with other deafblind people. As we walked, I remembered the Pilgrimage in Spain and shared my dream with my assistant Almuth. Straightaway she said to me “I would love to go with you!” It gave me chicken-skin. I didn’t know what to do. Was it really possible? At Christmas, I received my first audio book as a gift. I can hear a little with special equipment, I wouldn’t have bought one for myself as it’s too exhausting,. It was the audio book of Hape Kerkling “I‘m Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino De Santiago”. It was incredible; I listened to it 7 times in a row. I was completely done by the end, concentrating on every word, I was there with him. I searched the Internet for the Pilgrimage; I wanted to know everything about the mountain paths and the length of the walk.
Since February 2015 Almuth and I have been planning for the biggest project of my life. 7 of my deafblind assistants will support me, before in training and on the trail. All 7 won’t be there all the time but at different times on the 6 week trek.

One assistant will drive the car, carry the luggage, supplies and sort out the accommodation. Two assistants will walk with me from early morning until late at night.  In Mid April we’ll travel by car to St. Jean Pied du Port in France. That’s where it all starts. We plan to be in Santiago de Compostela 42 days later. If this is no longer just a dream but a reality then others must be involved, it must be bigger than me. I want to get more deafblind people to benefit somehow. Perhaps this is a lonely demonstration but I hope it’s interesting to the public, maybe I can draw attention to being deaf and blind, and then my dream will truly be real”
*The Pilgrimage is called “Jakobsweg” (Jacobs’s way) in German.

Sven Fiedler / 2016