How one Guyanese father refused to let adversity steal his greatest achievement

WHEN Eric Shepherd’s daughter was born, he remembers feeling overwhelmed with pride as he held her in his arms for the first time. Years later, a devastating accident left him with spinal injuries that changed the course of his life and threatened the independence he once cherished.

Yet, through grief, physical challenges and personal struggles, Shepherd refused to give up. Motivated by a promise to his late mother and a determination to remain present for his only child, he has continued to push forward, embracing fatherhood from a wheelchair while pursuing higher education, managing a household and finding joy in watching his daughter grow into a bright young woman.

As Guyana joins the rest of the world in celebrating Father’s Day 2026, the Pepperpot Magazine sat down with Shepherd as he reflected on the resilience, sacrifice and the enduring responsibility of being a father.

Recalling the moment he held his daughter for the first time, Shepherd called the moment magical. Like most new fathers, he remembers heading to the hospital, nervous yet excited.

As he told the Pepperpot Magazine, the moment he first held his daughter was the proudest moment of his life.

As he shared, “My wife put her in my arms, and I felt like crying. I felt, oh my God, wow, this is so surreal. To have her in my arms, and she give me a yawn. That felt so wonderful. I placed her in the bed next to her, and she looked at me,” he added, “That was the proudest moment. And from the same day until now, I’m getting up, this is my achievement, pride and joy.”

For Shepherd, fatherhood has remained largely the same since that day in the hospital more than a decade ago.

Sharing insight into what being a father means to him, Shepherd noted that for him, being a father means actively participating in his daughter’s life, celebrating her milestones, and offering guidance that will benefit her future.

As he shared, “I see myself in her, in every step of the way. As it is right now, when I look at her, I see a 10-year-old me. And what a 10-year-old me would have wanted, I try to bring that to her, because I didn’t grow with my father,” he added that his main goals in raising his daughter are to support her for who she is, and be the stability he did not have, to pursue her dreams, as he added, “I am there to support all of her dreams, all of her aspirations, all of everything that she needs in life. I want her to have stability, to grow with pride, and to take pride in the things that she does, and just to have the best possible life that she can.”

While his understanding of what it means to be a father has not changed, Shepherd’s life did.

On a night like any other, he was involved in a near-fatal accident that took his ability to walk. A combination of a sharp turn, another reckless driver on the road, and Shepherd’s brakes not being able to make it in time caused him to flip his vehicle.

Even that night, however, turned upside down and trapped in his car, Shepherd thought of his family.

Recounting that night, Shepherd shared, “The vehicle lost control. I lost control of the vehicle at the time. I skid off the road. And that was it. Hit a pole, thrown into a tree, hit a fence, and ended up in somebody’s yard. Damaged my spine, hip, and dislocated shoulder,” he added, “In that moment, what’s going to happen to me? Because I didn’t know. I knew what happened to me then. I knew it. This is it for me. So, that’s what happened to my family.”

Learning to live life again without the ability to walk was difficult for Shepherd.

Describing it as the most challenging time in his life, he shared that the shift from someone who valued his independence to someone who now had to relearn life with the help of loved ones was particularly hard for him.

As he told the Pepperpot Magazine, “Someone who is active, and somebody like myself… I don’t depend on people to hold my hand. I’m a very independent person. I like to do things myself, hands-on. I don’t depend on people to do things for me. It’s a really hard thing. A really, really hard thing to shift accustomed to. That was a really hard thing,” he said.

During this time, Shepherd also lost his mother. The loss, coupled with the fact that he could not help her as much as he wanted to, caused what Shepherd called his “greatest hurt in life.”

However, even in the face of great adversity, Shepherd remained committed to his duty as a father.

While grieving and relearning to live, Shepherd said he found the greatest motivation in his daughter.

As Shepherd shared, “I knew that I needed to be strong for my child at least. She’s looking. She doesn’t have siblings. I don’t have a huge family. Normally, to lose your father at such a young age, it’s going to be really, really tough. So giving up for me is not an option. It’s definitely not an option. I thought about it, I honestly thought about it, contemplated it, but I just can’t do that.”

Shepherd also made a promise to his mother while she was dying, and he was recovering. This, too, he added, was vital to him not giving up, adding, “One of my last promises to my mom is that I’ll stay with my family. It was the last conversation we would be having.”

While Shepherd’s journey is inspiring, he notes that he is not unique.

Speaking on the challenges faced by men at large in society, Shepherd said that networking, sharing and connecting with other men is vital, especially in times of hardship.

He noted that the stereotype of the ‘macho men that don’t cry’ does more harm than good to men going through difficult situations.

As he shared, “Men human too. We have emotions. We cry. We feel pain. We suffer. We have joy. We have a lot of these other emotions just because we’re human as well. And so we network together. We can share ideas. We can talk. We can share our struggles…Physical limitations. Our emotions and pride. All of these things we can share together,” he added, “A lot of times we suffer in silence because of our own foolishness. Just find that inspiration, whatever it is, to keep on pushing through.”

Most days for Shepherd now consist of him taking and picking his daughter up from school, making breakfast together and building a relationship he never had with his father.

While Shepherd does have a few things he is proud of, his job, pursuing a degree and making it through one of the hardest hurdles life can throw at someone, his daughter remains his biggest accomplishment.

As he stated, “Just seeing her grow is satisfying for me. Seeing her growing every day. I am actually seeing a reflection of myself. I’m watching her grow. That is satisfying for me. Watching her grow. And the conversations that we carry to and from school. That’s satisfying for me. Knowing that she’s growing so well and she’s very observant. And I’m glad that she has a brighter future than I ever had.”