Three Inspirational Blind People that Inspire me!

When my son Huey finally lost his eyesight at the age of 4 it was the day where I really felt I hit the bottom. No amount of words can explain the feelings for that moment and the impact it had on the whole family.

Yet at the time we were immensely grateful as Huey was alive as he just had life and death surgery and we weren't sure what the prognoses would be over the next few weeks. As events would show the doctor's saved his life but were too late to save his eyesight.

Did I give up hope for Huey? In all fairness I would say: absolutely not! There was no question that Huey was part of our family and still will be treasured and loved. However, I was more worried with Huey's future and how to survive given that life is full of challenges. Adding the loss of eyesight is one big challenge to overcome in addition to the other challenges that life brings to us. As father we want the best for our children knowing that one day they would lead their own life and follow their own dreams, hopes and goals.

I do recall having questions such as do blind people work? What careers do they choose? In a hindsight these may have been ridiculous questions. I do recall searching on the Internet for people who are blind. Might sound pathetic but in doing so I did find blind people that were highly inspirational to me and provided all the hope that I needed.

Over time the these are the three inspirational blind people that inspire me.


Kevin Kern: is an American pianist, composer and recording artist of New Age music. He was born legally blind. I must say I am a big fan of his music as it is presented in a style that relaxes me particularly in the early hours where I am burning the midnight oil. My favourite is the "beyond the sundial" and this is simply a beautiful piece of work!

Jacob Bolotin: fought hard to change the perception people had towards understanding the capabilities of blind people. And he went on to become the world's first totally blind physician that was fully licensed to practice medicine. And this going way back to the early 1900's. Truly inspiring!

Huey Springer: who is my son inspires me. Together we've formed a project based on his idea which is all about improving readability and making the Internet more user-friendly. Our story and project is about living with blindness, disabilities empowerment, learning and being inspired to start a project to help my son and others who are legally blind or vision impaired. In many ways Huey inspires me to be a better father by sharing his hopes, dreams and journey through the project to help others.



Thank you for reading.