How to Cope With Vision Loss (Real Examples)11 Jan
Two examples below
Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would leave him blind by the age of thirteen. He mother prayed for a miracle and his father encouraged him to live his dreams. A thrill seeker, Erik not only climbs mountains, but also skis and sky dives.
Erik followed his dreams of climbing high summits despite his loss of vision. He has scaled the 3000′ wall of El Capitan in Yosemite, made it to the top of Argentina’s Aconcagua, climbed the vertical ice wall of Alberta, Canada’s Polar Circus, and reached Mt. Everest. He also married his longtime sweetheart on the Shira Plateau of Mt. Kilimanjaro (which he climbed) in 1997 and became the father of a daughter in 2000.
He has written a book about his experiences, Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man’s Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See: My Story.
Edith lost most of her sight after retirement. She also has trouble moving around because of a back problem. She can barely see and feels the loss of the ability to read the most. She is fortunate because she lives with her daughter with whom she has bought a house, and does not like the idea of having to go into a nursing home because of the isolation it usually brings.
However, she is aware of the fact that sometimes her daughter does get exasperated with her lack of capabilities. ‘We are all in the process of growing older and I think people would be better off if they could get it into their head that they are not always going to be young and beautiful, and not always going to be able to earn a living for themselves. It can be a very lovely society if there is an acceptance that older people are just naturally a part of it, and it is a moving process all of the time’, she says.
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