Community rallies to support Caledon man who lost almost all vision from stroke

By Zachary Roman

A Caledon man's life changed overnight when he lost nearly all his sight.

Derek Moor recently suffered a stroke behind his left eye that caused his optic nerve to collapse, leaving him with extremely limited vision. While he's not legally blind, Moor, who is a mechanic and welder by trade, is no longer able to work in his job as a farm hand and had his driver's license taken away. 

Despite all of this, Moor is not letting himself get down. 

“I'm pretty thankful to have what I do… I'm sure somebody with no sight at all would be very happy to have the sight that I do,” said Moor. “I try to stay on the positive side.”

Support from friends, family, and the Caledon community has poured in for Moor during his tough time. A gofundme page was started by friend Bill Motley and over $5,000 has been donated to help Moor pay rent and cover expenses while he figures out what comes next.

Help also came from an unexpected place: London, ON-based company Zeus Ebikes.

As Moor's driver's license had to be taken away, he needed a new way to get around.

Friend Doug Weaver began to look into e-bikes, and Moor thought an e-bike would be the perfect solution.

Weaver reached out to Milad Ghobadibeygvand, owner of Zeus Ebikes, and Ghobadibeygvand was able to assist in getting a bike for Moor. 

Moor said doctors tell him it's unlikely his sight will ever return, but they won't give up on trying. He said the help he's received in this time has been unbelievable. 

“I was always thankful for the friends I had, but sometimes you don't realize how many, and how good the community is around you, until something happens to make us realize,” said Moor. “We're all so busy working every day that we don't step back and realize how lucky we really are… this has made me realize how lucky I really am.”

Weaver said it's been amazing to see the support for Moor and that it's a reminder there's a lot of good in the world. 
The following is the link to the gofundme supporting Moor: gofundme.com/f/derik-needs-to-move-on ¹

1. http://gofundme.com/f/derik-needs-to-move-on