Running Blind
This morning on a long run, I had a truly remarkable life experience.
While running along the Meewasin trail in Saskatoon, I happened to run up beside a man walking with a cane. He stopped me, asking if it was alright if he ran beside me.
He told me his name was Ricardo and he was legally blind, normally has a friend who helps guide him but unfortunately today he was unable to join. So Ricardo and I began running together, along the trail, me one step in front of him to his left, for which his peripheral vision was better.
Along the run, he shared many remarkable stories, on the difficulties of losing his sight to the challenges of being blind, but also inspiring stories on overcoming these barriers.
Ricardo and his friends have been meeting regularly for runs, because the trail offers a clear uninterrupted path for them to follow. During the winter, they have also been meeting to cross country ski, such a beautiful thought, a group of visually impaired people, skiing through the wilderness, enjoying the outdoors and the sound of the snow on their skis.
It’s amazing, how a brief encounter with a person, can completely change one’s perspective on the world. We take our senses for granted, hard to imagine if one of those senses were suddenly gone, until you meet a remarkable person like Ricardo, who you can run beside.