Visual impairment is no deterrent in enjoying the thrills and adventure of mountaineering. The fact will be proved by 10 visually impaired students of the Ramkrishna Mission Blind Boy’s Academy (R.K.M.B.B.A.), as they set out to conquer the 3,636 metre high Sandakphu peak.
Alex Loch of Maple has won several medals, over the years, in gymnastics - but what may be more impressive is his mettle to overcome visual impairment.
Loch has ‘rod monochromatism’, an eye disorder that allows the use of only rods in his eyes, instead of cones. "Rods are basically all your night vision and black and white vision. Cones are your day vision and colour vision. I don't have cones, so I'm always using my night vision and that causes complete colour blindness, sensitivity to light and I can't see very far," says Loch.
Blind since age of 10, Terry Garrett can’t play soccer, basketball or drive. But he made a pact with himself about how he’d view his disability. “I don’t let my blindness control me — I control my blindness,” he said.
This June, Garret was 7,710 feet above the sea level at Machu Picchu (Peru) along with five visually impaired teenagers and Erik Weihenmeyer, the first blind person to climb Mount Everest.
This is the first 'World Chess Championship for the Blind' to be held in India. According to sources, as many as 150 participants, including 15 International Masters (I.M.), 3 International Women Masters (I.W.M.), 6 F.I.D.E. Masters (F.M.) and 30 F.I.D.E. rated players from 40 countries will be competing for the prestigeous title.
The tournament will be inaugurated on 9th October 2006 and will end with the felicitation of winners on 18th October 2006.
The third ‘Blind Cricket World Cup’ will take place in Islamabad, Pakistan between December 4th to 16th, 2006. This was announced by the ‘World Blind Cricket Council’, recently.
The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held on December 3rd, World Disability Day and the finals will be played on December 16th. The tournament was scheduled to take place in South Africa but after organisational problems Pakistan stepped in to host the event.
World Invitational and British Blind Golf Championships, 2006 is being held in Edinburgh (U.K.), from 3 to 9 September 2006 at the Ratho Park Golf Club.
Golfer Cameron McDiarmid, 18, will defend the title he won two years ago at Westerwood Golf Club in East Kilbride (Canada).
Visually impaired Minori Nakaoji, 33, riding in a unique wheelchair, completed the 42.195-kilometer New York City Marathon. She is the first athlete with multiple disabilities to complete a full marathon.
"The wind in New York was chilly, but I feel great," Nakaoji said after the competition.
Nakaoji lost her eyesight in her childhood because of an illness. She has been confined to a wheelchair for five years after her lower body became paralysed.
The England blind cricket team will enter the 2006 World Cup to be played in Pakistan in December. Well, that’s old news.
The English local cricket clubs too, are promoting cricket among the visually impaired people. Old Sharlston Cricket Club would like to hear from any visually impaired person who is interested in playing a blind cricket match at Sharlston on, July 23 2006. The event is aimed at popularising the sport in the country.
“I'm thrilled to have achieved this record, but it will take a while to sink in,” Mark Threadgold said. "I was a bit nervous beforehand but things couldn't have gone more smoothly."
British diver Mark Threadgold has set a new world record for the deepest dive attempted by a blind person after reaching 103 metres in the Egyptian Red Sea.
The 38-year-old former soldier from Brighton beat his previous record by more than 30 metres at the Blue Hole dive site of Dahab (Egypt) on June 16, 2006.
He boldly went where no man has gone before and made history. Dan Barrett is the first blind diver ever to dive in the aquarium at Minneapolis' Mall of America.
"This isn't really about the diving as much as it is about giving a disabled individual, an experience that can empower them to do other things," Barrett said. "It's not about getting into the water. It's about elevating your spirit. It's about taking you to a new level."
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