Hikers raise money, awareness for blind

[azdesertfather]

Interesting story on azcentral...

Hikers raise money, awareness for blind

by Sadie Jo Smokey - Nov. 24, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Mike Armstrong, 38, is a certified fourth-degree black belt. The Phoenix man is a husband and father and plays drums for his worship team at church. He has been blind since 1996 because of a hereditary retinal disease.

Next summer, Armstrong will leave his family and his dojo, Blind Tiger Martial Arts Academy, to embark on an eight-day climb of Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro.

Representing and raising funds for the Phoenix-based Foundation for Blind Children, Armstrong will hike with eight other blind individuals and 19 guides.

The participants range in age from 12 to 44 and live in Scottsdale, Phoenix and the West Valley.

Liz O'Brien, who works for the foundation, will be one of Armstrong's sighted guides.

O'Brien and the hikers are already training. Earlier this month, they took part in the Seven Summits of Phoenix challenge, where hikers spent the weekend hiking the city's biggest summits.

Armstrong said he feels prepared for the challenge of hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.

Having a larger purpose helps, too.

Armstrong said he is doing it to help raise awareness for the Foundation for Blind Children and to inspire his karate students.

[rushthezeppelin]

I love hearing stories like this. It's amazing how much humans can persevere, even with major disabilities, and conquer things nobody thought they would ever do. Good luck to him and the rest of his group. May they have a safe accent.