The Great Halifax Explosion and the Blind Mechanic

By Terrie Todd

“I always knew it was a story that should be told to a wider audience.”

–Marilyn Davidson Elliott

As a toddler, Eric Davidson was playing with a toy train in his Halifax, Nova Scotia home on the morning of December 6, 1917. While his mother prepared breakfast, he pushed the train back and forth on the windowsill, no doubt making the noise of the engine. Suddenly, the window, inches from his face, exploded inward. Shards of glass became embedded in Eric’s face, including his eyes. Later that day, he would become the youngest survivor of the Halifax Explosion to have both eyes surgically removed. He was two and a half. At such a young age, Eric did not understand why it was always so dark and repeatedly asked his parents to turn on the lights.

Some of the babies recovered from the disaster area, many unidentified. The child standing was blinded by flying glass, like Eric.

Educated at the Halifax School for the Blind, Eric decided upon his graduation that he wanted to be an auto mechanic. But the trade school he approached told him no one would hire a blind mechanic and that he should consider fixing washing machines. Eric believed there had to be a way. He bought some auto manuals, had his family members read them to him, and began tinkering with old cars in the backyard. Once they were working, he’d disconnect something and listen to the sound the engine made. Soon, he could identify a vehicle’s problem by simply listening to it.

Halifax School for the Blind

Eventually, Eric became a licensed mechanic in 1948 and enjoyed a long and successful career with the City of Halifax, retiring in 1980. His accomplishments also generated a lot of attention, but interviews and accolades made him uncomfortable. “He never understood what all the fuss was about,” said his daughter, Marilyn Davidson Elliott, in her book The Blind Mechanic. (2018, Nimbus Publishing).



Eric married Mary Zinck, a partially sighted woman, in 1950. They had three children, all of whom had excellent vision, but appreciated their exposure to vision loss and the courage it instilled in a warm and loving family.

Eric Davidson

At the time of his death in 2009, Eric Davidson was the second-last living survivor with permanent injuries from the Halifax Explosion, which killed more than 1,600 people. “Everyone always says that they came away from being with my father feeling better about themselves and life in general, and that was just his positivity,” said Marilyn. “People were amazed at this man.”

 

The Reluctant Healer of Halifax, a novel of the Great Halifax Explosion of 1917, is a story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War. It releases from Barbour Publishing on August 1, 2026.

Terrie Todd is the award-winning author of ten historical novels, all set in Canada, where she lives with her husband Jon. A former church drama team leader and newspaper columnist, she’s also a frequent contributor to Guideposts Books, a mother of three, and grandmother of five.









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