Todd James was diagnosed at the age of 12 with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that causes the breakdown and loss of cells in the retina.

At 48, he is 95% blind and requires a walking stick to help with mobility. But he's still moving forward.

James works for Prairie Potable Water Services part time and is two math classes away from completing an associate degree in social work at North Idaho College. He plans to pursue his bachelor’s degree next.

“Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t do,” James said.

Ben Broyles, who owns Prairie Potable Water Services with his wife, Phyllis, said that he had been trying to hire an assistant and no one would show up to interview.

Broyles' part-time dispatcher, Amy James, suggested that he consider hiring her husband.

“I told him I’d work for free for a few days and if it didn’t work out, we would walk away on good terms,” James said.

“No one would hire me before,” James said. “People constantly dismissed me, and now I feel like I have a purpose. There is a feeling of self worth to be working with someone who understands.”

Broyles said the arrangement has worked out beautifully. “I was in amazement at what he can do — our customers are amazed at what he can do,” he said.

The pair delivers bulk potable water in quantities of about 3,600 gallons to people on well systems. When a cistern runs dry, Prairie Potable Water refills them.

Broyles, who has a bad knee, said he does the driving and directs James in placing the hoses.

“I’m his eyes, and he’s my muscle,” Broyles said.

The pair has now been working together for about three months. They’ve come up with their own ways of communicating on the job.

“I honk the horn on the truck if he’s heading the wrong way and yell out directions," Broyles said.

Because James’ blindness developed slowly, he experienced different careers over the years.

“My father had a logging business in Montana, so I was kind of born into it,” James said. He worked in the logging industry in Alaska and across the Pacific Northwest.

Fresh out of high school, James studied airframe and powerplant mechanics and he spent years as a fabricator and welder. James maintained a CDL drivers license until the age of 28.

“He’s done a lot of different things in his life,” Broyles said. “His knowledge is easy for me to use.”

Raised in Superior, Montana, James and his wife moved to Idaho two years ago. Amy is also visually impaired and Montana did not offer many services for the blind, James said, and “life was really difficult.”

A house fire provided them the impetus to move to Coeur d’Alene. With family in the area and more social services available, he said the fire was a blessing in disguise.

James’ college experience has been great, he said. He’s been on the honor roll multiple times and works with access specialist Ryan Scott at North Idaho College.

James doesn't read braille due to the weathered texture of his fingertips, but uses a system called a JAWS screen reader that takes written materials and reads them aloud.

James said he types about 140 words per minute and does math problems in his head.

“People with disabilities should be given a chance,” James said. “Just because the eyes don’t work doesn’t mean the brain doesn’t.”