Yes I Can Blog

#47 3 Inspiring Blind People
Friday, January 31, 2025 by Deb Vellines

Can you imagine?

  • Being blind and surfing?
  • Being blind and painting?
  • Being blind and competing in the Olympics?

What’s the most amazing thing you ever heard a blind person was able to do? Millie  (my mom) was an inspiration to me. She didn’t surf, paint, or compete in the Olympics, but she amazed me simply by where she went with her white cane.

How many of us would be brave enough to walk around the block with only a white cane and / or peripheral vision to guide us? How about going to the mall without a sighted person to help. Millie used public transportation to get there and identified the location of the shops by smell and sound. When with her, I learned to smell the candy store (that’s an easy one) or a shoe store, or the pretzel vendor simply by smell.  

Here are three stories I pulled from the internet and would like to share with you. Here’s the link for more stories like these:

https://www.oddee.com/item_98614.aspx

The Blind Surfer

Derek Rabelo isn’t your average surfer. Far from it, since Derek was born with congenital glaucoma. However, that didn’t stop the 20-year-old Brazilian from learning to surf when he was just three years old.

“With God, everything is possible,” he says, and religion does play a big role in his life: his church helped take him to Hawaii last winter, where the surf community took Rabelo under its wing. Relying on four out of five senses, Rabelo is the protagonist of the upcoming documentary “Beyond Sight.”

The Blind Painter

John Bramblitt lost his vision in 2001 when he was 30 years old due to complications from epilepsy. At first, John says he lost hope and was in a deep depression, but then he found an outlet: painting. Since John can’t see colors, he has developed a process whereby he paints by touch. According to the artist, the colors feel different to him: white is thick and black is a little runny, so when he needs gray, he mixes the two until the texture is right. His art has been sold in over twenty countries and he has appeared internationally in print, TV, and radio. His work has received much recognition, including the “Most Inspirational Video of 2008” from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative art workshops.

 

The First Blind Athlete in the Olympics

When Marla Runyan was 9 years old she developed Stargardt’s Disease, a form of macular degeneration that left her legally blind, but that never stopped her. In 1987 she went on to study at San Diego State University, where she began competing in several sporting events, and her career took off until she won four gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics, and at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta she took silver in the shot put and gold in the pentathlon.

Her career as a world-class runner in able-bodied events began in 1999 at the Pan American Games, where she won the 1,500-meter race. The next year, she placed eighth in the 1,500-meter in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, making Runyan the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics with the highest finish by an American woman in that event.

By 2001 she won her first of three consecutive 5000-meter National Championships. She also released her autobiography “No Finish Line: My Life As I See It”. In 2002 she added the road 5K and 10K National Championships and married her coach, Matt Lonergan.

*****

Readers: Would you like to tell us about someone who is an inspiration to you? If you are blind, what do you do that amazes others? Please tell us about your accomplishments. No need to be shy about this.


Previous Posts

#77 Alexa
Deb Vellines

2/1/2025

#76 Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Deb Vellines

2/1/2025

#75 Surviving without Driving
Deb Vellines

2/1/2025

#74 WayAround Tags
Deb Vellines

2/1/2025

#73 SYFOVRE eye injections
Deb Vellines

2/1/2025

#72 You Are Not a Burden!
Deb Vellines

2/1/2025

#71 Anger
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#70 Self-Confidence
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#69 Bright Focus Chats
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#68 Zoom Meeting Suggestions
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#67 Living Well with Low Vision by Prevent Blindness
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#66 The Hadley School for the Blind
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#65 AIRA
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#64 Fanny Crosby
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#63 Derek Daniel and Life After Sight Loss
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#62 – 8 Hints for Cell Phones
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#61 Retinal Implants
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#60 EyeSmart
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#59 Voice Commands
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#58 Grocery Shopping
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#57 Eye Appointments and COVID-19
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#56 Social Distancing
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#55 Be My Eyes Update
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#54 Blind Beatitudes
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#53 Seeing AI
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#52 Research & Development 2019
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#51 Yes I Can – Another 25
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#50 Yes I Can Times 25
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#49 Blind Parents
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#48 Audio Description at the Movies
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#47 3 Inspiring Blind People
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#46 Drug Update
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#45 Do You Volunteer?
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#44 5 Pinterest Pins
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#43 – Four Reference Books
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#42 Trust Instead of Worry
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#41 Depression
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#40 eSight 3
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#39 Bioptic Telescopes
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#38 – CentraSight
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#37 – 11 Bathroom Hints
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#36 Public Restrooms
Deb Vellines

1/31/2025

#35 Helen Keller Quotes
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#34 Six Tips to Choose Sunglasses
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#33 Another Be My Eyes Call
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#32 Be My Eyes Call
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#31 Quiz Answers
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

# 30 Quiz re: Sunglasses
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#29 Phone Apps Help Low Vision
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#28 News
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#27 – 9 More Ways to Help
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#26 – 9 Ways to Help
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#25 White Cane (continued)
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#24 White Cane
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#23 Be My Eyes
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#22 Dry Macular Degeneration Trials
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#21 Search Clinical Trials
Deb Vellines

1/30/2025

#20 Clinical Trials
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#19 Eye Injections (continued)
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#18 Eye Injections
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#15 Systems of Sight
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#16 Update on Systems of Sight
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#17 Knowledge is Power!!
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#14 Household Hints
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#12 Reduce the Risks of Macular Degeneration
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#13 Kitchen Hints
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#11 Beecher Binoculars
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#9 Volunteer Work
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#10 Talking Books and Magazines
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#8 Handicap Parking Permit and Restaurants
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#7 Visual Magnifying Machine
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#6 Amsler Chart
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#5 Handling Money (continued)
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#4 Shopping and Handling Money
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#3 I Have Low Vision Button
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#2 Sharing Items to Help
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025

#1 Welcome and Support Groups
Deb Vellines

1/29/2025