4th and Goal Commentary - April 26, 2001
Blind Climber Conquers Mountains
By Bill McCartney
Erik Weihenmayer is a skydiver, skier, scuba diver, and mountain climber.
Incredible, especially considering that Erik's blind.
I'm Bill McCartney... It's 4TH and Goal!
Erik Weihenmayer is lights-out blind, and an all-around adventurer.
He plans to climb The Seven Summits: the tallest peaks on each of the world's
seven continents. He's already climbed the tallest mountains in Africa,
and North and South America, and he'll soon attempt Mt. Everest, the tallest
mountain in the world.
Born with a rare and incurable eye condition, Erik lost his sight completely
when he was 13. Right after that, his mother was killed in an auto
accident. Ed Weihenmayer, Erik's father, recalls those years after
his wife's death as difficult for the entire family. But they were
especially tough for his son, who was angered by the darkness that engulfed
him.
But Ed didn't let him wallow in self-pity. Instead, he set Erik
on a path of goals normally reserved for the sighted. . . the very fit
sighted.
It was, as Ed put it, a way to bond the family together, to create the
kind of 'glue' that his wife had provided. And, you know what? Ed's
love and encouragement of Erik worked.
Guys, sometimes we look at our kids and see nothing but limitations
and weaknesses. We try to protect them from failure by keeping their
hopes realistic. But sometimes we miss the potential in our kids!
Now, I'm not saying that all kids should attain Erik's exceptional level
of achievement, but we fathers need to do our best to help our kids thrive.
Let's become known for saying "you can do it" or "go for it" when our kids
dream, instead of dousing them with the cold waters of what we think is
realistic.
Let's give kids the security and stability to take some risks in life.
Erik's dad helped build in him the confidence to successfully climb some
of the tallest mountains in the world. As fathers, if we can encourage
our kids to overcome their limitations, the sky's their limit!
I'm Coach Bill McCartney.
Source Material: Kennedy, Michael J. "He Overcomes Challenge,
by Thousands of Feet." LA TImes, January 5, 2001.
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