A meeting between a young Central Okanagan hockey fan with impaired vision and a blind athlete on a fundraising quest through Canada has enriched the lives of both.

Kelowna-area youngster Zachary Miller has long wanted to play hockey, although his visual impairment has kept the Grade 5 student from playing the sport he loves.

Zachary was born with severely impaired vision and has optic nerve atrophy. He once was able to see the sport he loves on the television but now his vision is good to six inches and then everything falls away, with contrast and light and dark remaining, but not much else.

But Zachary has not let his eyesight slow him down. He is an avid hockey fan and an active, happy boy who occasionally brings home an extra scrape or two from playing outdoors.

“Zachary loves hockey,” explains his mother, Heather Miller. “Everything hockey, since he could walk, going around on the carpet in his skates.”

This year was the first season Zachary tried out for minor hockey.

“He has never played in organized hockey but through minor hockey he went and tried out,” said Miller whose voice wavers slightly as she recounts exactly how much her son wants to be out on the ice.

“He got out there and gave it his best, but he would be skating in the wrong direction. I am just so proud of his heart, it is so huge.”

In the end minor hockey wasn’t right for Zachary.

Enter 22-year-old Mark DeMontis. The Toronto native is legally blind but since June has been roller blading from Toronto en route to Vancouver, raising money and awareness.

When the Miller family heard of Demontis’ quest and rollerblade journey across Canada for blind hockey, they contacted DeMontis through his organization Courage Canada.

DeMontis went blind at 17 and has since dedicated his life to building the sport of blind hockey and using his foundation to do it.

After contacting Courage Canada, the Miller’s were able to set up a meeting in Merritt between DeMontis and Zachary.

“We met at Tim Horton’s and Mark told Zachary about his disability,” said Miller. “It was wonderful Zachary could relate to somebody doing something positive.”

The Millers and DeMontis truly hit it off and the Millers extended a Thanksgiving invitation to DeMontis and the team that is supporting him as he treks across the country toward Vancouver.

The result was an unexpected and rare weekend of connection as DeMontis and his crew accepted the invitation and came to Kelowna. The Millers hosted Thanksgiving dinner, provided beds and took their guests out on a tour of the region.

DeMontis posted to his blog about the depth of the life changing experience at www.couragecanada.com.

“This entire weekend was really a culminating experience for the team and I as we enter the final week of this journey,” he wrote. “What started as a simple meeting turned out to be one of the most personally rewarding experiences of the past 106 days and my life as a whole. Barring the fact that I have not yet crossed the finish line in Vancouver, if I were to end my quest today, I would feel entirely satisfied. To Zach, thank-you for making it all worth it.”

For Zachary, being on skates is one of the best things on earth.

“It is my favorite thing, it feels good to be on skates and it is fun to glide on them and to go fast.”

For his mother, creating experiences where Zachary can enjoy sports is tremendously important.

“We always treat him like any other kid,” she said.

And as for DeMontis, he will be recognized at Saturday’s Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks game for his efforts through Courage Canada.

Miller says she and her family will be moving forward to help the cause of Courage Canada.

“We want to make blind hockey available to more kids. It gives you a humbling feeling to see what can happen.”