“I am blind, what’s your excuse?”
Every now and then you meet someone who just blows you away. Their strength, their determination, their captivating personality. One such person is Hein Wagner. It has been said that people born blind grow and mature with an intellect absolutely void of the preconceptions or judgements with those with sight. Their minds become formidable think tanks, platforms from which they develop razor sharp insights into life’s everyday problems and challenges.
Hein’s achievements are sure to make you sit up and take stock of your own life. In 2012 he completed the Desset Dash 369 km mountain bike race from Windhoek to Swakopmund. He is a two-time winner of the Argus cycle race blind tandem category. He was also the first blind person to complete the 2011 ABSA Cape Epic which involves 707 km over 8 days climbing over 15 000 metres.
What we love to hear here at Women on Wheels is that Hein broke the World Blinf Land Speed record becoming the fastest blind driver in the world by averaging a speed of 322.5 km/h in a Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series. Amazing! This was in 2009. Back in 2005 he broke the record in a Maserati Gran Sport reaching a speed of 269 km/h.
He is a motivational speaker, which goes without saying, and he tailor makes any of his presentations to suit your objectives and outcomes. Hein is trying to create awareness for the Institute for the Blind, which is under threat of losing its funding which means 530 blind and disable people will lose their home and end up on the street. The annual costs of this institution add up to R51 million and the Department of labour is pulling the plug on funding. Hein has been appointed the Blind Institute’s brand ambassador, he attend the Pioneer School for the Blind from the age of five.
Hein says that there are many remarkable individuals that have been schooled and housed at the Institute over the years who are living proof that despite challenges, with the right help anything is possible. “However, the bottom line is that there is no hope without help,” he adds.
As deaf-blind political activist/prolific author Helen Keller remarked: “The chief handicap of the blind is not blindness, but the attitude of seeing people towards them.”
For more information visit the Blind Institute’s website or follow them on Twitter: @Institute4Blind or www.facebook.com/Institute-for-the-Blind
You can only end a post on Hein with his very own words, “I am blind…what’s your excuse?”
You can contact Hein at [email protected] or visit his site www.heinwagner.co.za