Captain's courageous: St. Bernard's Isaias Bumpus has embraced fencing to help him overcome physical obstacles

Montville — Isaias Bumpus is clearly in his happy place on Thursday afternoon. He calls his St. Bernard School fencing teammates together in a circle to start practice in the high school cafeteria. He confidently shouts out instructions while leading stretching exercises and then footwork drills. An epee team captain, Bumpus, a junior, enjoys leading the Saints. "It's not so much that I like being in charge, but I like teaching and I like running drills and stuff," Bumpus said. "I like to get the satisfaction of watching people grow." Bumpus has experienced his own personal growth since joining the program as a freshman. Fencing is more than just a competitive outlet for Bumpus. It has helped him deal with and overcome some serious personal challenges. Bumpus is legally blind. At the age of 11, Bumpus was diagnosed with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP), a genetic disease that results in gradual vision loss and eventually blindness. His mother Yaritza discovered she had the same condition but a different outcome. "The condition, it's deteriorative, so it just keeps making your vision worse and worse," Bumpus said. "And my mom doesn't have that problem. The disease affects men more than it affects women." The news stunned the family, which lives in Plainfield. "It was devastating," Yaritza said. "He always loved to read and a lot of things changed for him. There were a lot of doctor visits and acknowledgement that this was happening." Forced to give up soccer, his favorite sport, Bumpus decided to join the fencing program at St. Bernard. It was a life-altering decision. "It took me a while to get over it, understand it," Bumpus said of his condition. "My friends and family really helped me. I think the biggest thing that helped me get over it was fencing. What hurt the most to me is I couldn't play soccer, I couldn't see things." "Then I joined fencing and it's a great community and it's a sport that I could do, and that made me feel very confident. That was a very big milestone for me getting over my vision problems." Bumpus started out competing in foil before switching to epee, which has a broader target area. Discouraged at first, Bumpus gained confidence with a seventh-place finish in a tournament in his first season. In a sign of his growth and improvement, he won the gold medal in epee at the Winter Classic at East Lyme in early December. What Bumpus has accomplished is amazing given his vision limitations. Through hard work and determination, Bumpus has learned to adjust and adapt during competition. "Your opponent is always in front of you," Bumpus said. "You don't have to worry about your vision getting in the way. … My limitations come from the blade. If they swing the blade around, I can't see it. If they drop low, I can't see them. But most fencers don't really do that." Bumpus, who wears contact lenses, is steadily losing his vision. He's down to just 16 degrees of vision in one eye and 18 degrees in the other. He uses a walking cane during the day at high school but not when fencing. He's eligible for a guide dog, which is expected to arrive this summer. But that hasn't discouraged him from competing in a sport that's been described as an athletic game of tag. "It's awesome," said James, Isaias' father. "We're so proud of him for being able to accomplish what he does. If you watch him and you don't know, then you wouldn't know that he has limitations." Coach Steven Page says Bumpus is a role model and his teammates look up to him. "He's done phenomenal," Page said. "He has pretty much overcome it. He's a great leader. He got promoted to captain this year. He's shown that he can lead people and help develop his teammates. "He's a great kid. I love having him on the team. I'm so proud of him and he's proud of himself. I have the utmost confidence in him. His limitations are the only limitations that he puts on himself. If he feels he can overcome it, he'll overcome it." Bumpus' passion for the sport extends beyond the high school season. During the offseason, he trains at the Sword in the Scroll Fencing Academy in Willimantic. Bumpus and his instructor, Raven Belliveau, wear blindfolds while working out. "That has helped me a lot because he taught me how to fence based on feel and not sight, and that's where my strengths lie," Bumpus said. "Basically, I told them my limitations. Instead of focusing on my limitations, they would teach me fully blindfolded." Bumpus not only excels in fencing. He also is a standout in the classroom, regularly achieving high honors with distinction. He appreciates the support that he's received from the St. Bernard community during his challenging journey. "It's a great community," Bumpus said. "I love the school." He's working his way through a bucket list that his parents encouraged him to do a few years ago. A history buff, he's already checked off several items, including a visit to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Hawaii and a number of World War II-era ships. A rock and metal music lover, he's gone to several concerts. He plans to see Staind and Breaking Benjamin this summer. He also has several soccer-related adventures in mind, hoping to take in a World Cup game and watch Liverpool, his favorite team, play. Next up on his wish is a trip to Italy. His plans also include becoming a lawyer. "I'm really big into criminal law," Bumpus said. "And I really want to be a defense attorney because I think there are statistics that a lot of people that are innocent get proven guilty. If I can do anything to stop that, I'd like to." There's no timetable for when Bumpus will completely lose his sight. He tries not to think about that, but sometimes those thoughts creep into his head. "There are times where I look ahead,'' Bumpus said. "There are times when I wonder what life would be like if I went blind now instead of in my future. There are times where I ponder that. But I mostly don't. I typically stay in the now." And when he's feeling down, he finds comfort in scrolling through photos on his cell phone. "I have had a lot of tough moments," Bumpus said. "I still struggle to handle the tough moments. A lot of the time the way I handle tough moments is I look at older pictures. I have a lot of memorable pictures of people around me, the people who support me, the people who lift me up. "Looking through those pictures makes me remember that I have a great support system. And so typically, that's a very good way to get me out of a tough situation." g.keefe@theday.com