12 motivational stories of the "blind" success of people who could not surrender

Blindness is not a sentence and no reason to live a boring and uninteresting life. This is proved by the stories of people presented in our collection. Their power of the spirit can only be envied.

According to existing data, there are approximately 39 million people in the world with total lack of vision. However, some of them are a vivid example of how to live to the fullest and do not give up even in difficult situations. Losing sight, they were able to develop their other abilities to assert themselves to the whole world. These examples can not but inspire.

1. The creator of cruise control

It is difficult to imagine that such an important and necessary thing as cruise control was invented by a blind person - Ralph Titor. Because of the accident, he went blind in five years, but this did not knock the ground from under his feet. Ralph believes that the lack of vision helped him to concentrate on the tasks set. He is the inventor of a new kind of fishing rods and fishing reels.

The history of creating cruise control is very interesting. It happened during the Second World War. The future inventor was traveling with his lawyer. When the driver started talking, he was distracted, and the car was jerking. As a result, Ralph started to feel sick, and he decided to think up what could have changed this ride. After 10 years he patented his invention, which now exists in almost every car - cruise control.

2. An architect who does not see

Many will be surprised that a blind person can create buildings and plan cities, but this is indeed the case. Christopher Downey lost his sight in 2008, due to the fact that the tumor surrounded the optic nerve. He could not abandon the architecture, so he began working with a blind scientist who worked in the field of computer technology. The man came up with a way to print online maps thanks to a tactile printer. Christopher is committed to creating a more convenient urban infrastructure for blind people.

3. A woman seeing movement

Stroke does not go without consequences, and for Milena Channing, he led to the destruction of her primary visual cortex, which should lead to complete blindness. At the same time the girl claimed that she sees how it rains, the car drives and her daughter runs. Doctors conducted research and thought that these words are a fantasy, and this manifests the Charles Bonnet syndrome, in which the blind suffer from hallucinations.

Channing was sure that she really sees the movement, so she did not lose hope of finding a person who would believe her. He was an ophthalmologist from Glasgow, who suggested that Milena had a Riddock phenomenon, in which people see only moving figures. Five years have passed, and scientists have determined that the girl's part of the brain responsible for the movement is fully preserved.

4. A NASCAR driver who does not see

Marc Anthony Riccobono was born with poor eyesight, which constantly worsens. Now he is an adult and works to show that blind people can live a full life. Thanks to new technologies, Anthony was able to drive. In 2011, he drove behind the wheel of the Ford Escape and made a circle on the International Race Track in Dayton.

This is made possible by two technologies: DriveGrip, consisting of two gloves sending vibrations to the hands to give a signal when to turn the wheel, and also SpeedStrip, which includes cushions on the back and legs, showing how much acceleration.

5. The blind critic

Many blind people regret that they can not watch movies, but Tommy Edison proves the opposite, because he is a film critic and puts his reviews on YouTube. He explains this by saying that the film is a kind of visual environment that can be mastered, most importantly imagination. Tommy said that he watches a lot of films and does not miss new products. He is not distracted by special effects and other trivia, but simply listens, visualizing everything in his head. Many people who saw the video with his reviews say that they could look at familiar films in a new way.

6. Blind Olympic athlete

At the age of nine, a girl named Marla Ranjan developed Stargardt's disease, which made her blind. In 1987, she entered the university and began participating in sports events. Five years later she won five gold medals at the Summer Paralympic Games. In 2000, Marla took part in the Olympic Games in Sydney, where she took the eighth place in the 1500 meter race. She became the first blind athlete in such a competition, showing the highest rates for American women in the race.

7. Amateur to travel

Many guys dreamed of being submariners in their childhood, among them Alan Lok, who was a sailor and was trained. During this time in just six weeks, he lost his sight because of the rapid degeneration of the yellow spot. The guy claims that he sees in front of a frosted glass with white spots. He did not become depressed, but decided that he wanted to conquer the world.

In the list of achievements of the traveler is participating in 18 marathons, the conquest of Elbrus, and he was also the first blind man to cross the Atlantic Ocean. After that, Alan, along with two friends decided to go on a trip to the South Pole. In his expedition he spent 39 days, passing 960 km.

8. The unique chef

It is very important for a chef to feel the taste and smell of products delicately. These feelings are especially strong in Christina Ha, who is blind, but works exactly as a cook. In 2004 she was diagnosed with optic neuronitis, and three years later, Christina was almost completely blind. In 2012, the talented girl became a participant of the show "MasterChef", where she won. It's amazing how a person by the touch prepares real culinary masterpieces.

9. Burglar of telephone lines

Another unique person in our rating is Joe Engressia, who was born blind in 1949. The only entertainment he could think of himself was to dial random phone numbers and listen to people's voices. Joe also likes to whistle, and at some time he decided to combine his two hobbies. When he was eight years old, he dialed the number and began to whistle, and the recording ended. After several attempts, he realized that the system perceives, his whistle for the actions of the operator.

As a result, Joe could call free of charge for long-distance communication and even organize a conference call. Thanks to regular training, he managed to direct a challenge to himself, sending him to a separate receiver. For his illegal actions Joe was twice in prison.

10. The soldier sees the language

Soldiers regularly risk their lives and sometimes they get serious injuries. An example is the 24-year-old Craig Lundberg, who served in Iraq. In 2007, the guy was injured, resulting in a headache, a face and hands. Doctors tried to save his life, so they removed the left eye, and the right eyeball completely lost its function.

Yet Craig was lucky, because the Ministry of Defense chose him to test the new BrainPort technology. Its essence lies in the fact that a person wears glasses equipped with a video camera, the resulting images are converted into electrical pulses, and they are transferred to a special device located in the language. As a result, Lundberg could see in a certain sense of the word, while he feels tingle, as when licking the battery. Amazing is the fact that a guy can see letters, and therefore read. Scientists can not yet determine what makes this device work - signals that pass through the tongue or the visual cortex of the brain.

11. The blind artist

At birth, Esref Armaghan suffered a serious injury that affected his eyes: one did not work at all, and the second resembled a small pea. To explore the world, he explored everything with his hands, and in the end, from six years of interested in drawing. The artist always works in silence to concentrate on the task. In his head he visualizes the image, and then makes sketches using the Braille stylus (a special writing pen for the blind). After that, he checks the sketch with his left hand, then draws his fingers and paints. Armaghan paintings are exhibited in many countries.

The scientists decided to conduct a unique experiment: Ashref drew, and at that moment the MRI scanner was studying his brain. The result impressed the doctors, because when he did not draw, the scanner represented his brain as a black spot, and when he began to create, he lit up like an ordinary person.

12. The unique doctor

In the history of medicine, Jakob Bolotin occupies a special place, since he was born blind. The boy began to quickly develop other of his feelings, so, he learned to recognize people by their smell. He dreamed of becoming a doctor, but all the colleges refused to see the blind. Jacob did not lose hope - at the age of 24 he graduated from the Chicago Medical College and became the first blind licensed physician. His specialization was the heart and lungs.

In diagnosis, the doctor used his ears and fingers. He did incredible things, for example, he was able to diagnose a woman's complications in the work of the heart valve, just listening to her pulse and breathing in the smell of the skin. Unfortunately, the unique doctor died at the age of 36 years.