Paralympian Jessica Tuomela says "if you want it, don't let people stop you."
And the world-class athlete is very good at taking her own advice.
From learning to drive at Pancake River before she was ten years old, to swimming the 50-meter freestyle at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Tuomela has been pretty much doing what she wants to do.
And as people around Pancake River learned long ago, it's best not to stand in the way of this blind-from-age-three athlete.
There was a welcome-home reception for Jessica tonight at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
Tuomela (shown with her helper dog Jetta) was presented with a framed proclamation and flowers, as well as congratulations from Mayor John Rowswell, City Council and other well-wishers.
Learning to drive at Pancake River
And her dad, Mark, was spilling the beans to SooToday.com about the difficulties involved in indulging his daughter's eagerness for independence and adventure.
"We were going fishing up at Pancake River, my daughter was about eight or nine, and I let her drive my old truck," he says.
"She was sitting on my lap and I was telling her, 'Jessica go this way, a little more that way.' These two guys were walking down the hill, one on either side. Well, I guess they thought they were going to get picked off or something, so off they took into the bush on either side of the road – a good 40 feet or so."
Tuomela Sr. also talked to us about his own difficulty in letting go, indicating that even in the past few years, his paternal instincts have made it hard to let his daughter out of his sight.
"She's still my little girl," he said as he began to tell a more recent story about Jessica walking over to a friend's place from her parent's house in the Sault.
'Dad, you were following me'
"It was a kind of convoluted route and I watched her through the window until I saw that she was down at the corner," he said.
"Then I put my boots on and ran down to watch her from the corner."
So Dad Tuomela watched daughter Jessica from each corner until he was assured she'd safely arrived at her friend's house.
Then, he snuck back home to place himself on his easy chair.
"She got her friend and walked back over to our place," he said.
"She said, 'Dad, you were following me, weren't you?'"
Dad tried to say he was innocently watching TV all along.
But Jessica knew better.
"She told me, 'Yes, I know you were following me because Jetta [her helper dog] wasn't working properly, so don't do that again.'"
Pleased with Athens performance
Jessica has been training with swim teams since her early teens.
And she intends to continue training and competing while working on her sociology degree at Sir Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo.
She tells SooToday.com she's pleased with her performance in Athens.
Even with her first heat, when she was disqualified because judges said she failed to touch the wall of the pool properly before turning to swim back.
"It was only the second time in my life I've ever been disqualified so it was kind of hard to swallow," she says.
"I know it was a clean swim, I know it was a personal best time so I'm happy with it."
Tuomela is also very enthusiastic about the support she’s gotten from fellow Saultites who've written to her amd taken the time to stop and congratulate her when they pass her on the street.
Learn more
For SooToday.com background on Jessica Tuomela, her accomplishments and goals, please click on the following links:
Jessica misses medal by one-tenth of a second Jessica qualifies for another final Jessica Tuomela disqualified at Paralympics.