[NFBNJ] NFBNJ Joins Surfing For Vision Super Experience

[joe ruffalo]

Greetings!
The first link highlights the wind and the powerful waves and my attempt to 
ride the surf.
In addition, a video featuring the first two surfers and the article in the 
Asbury Park Press for Wednesday, August 24, 2016 is provided
Enjoy.
Joe ruffalo, President
NFBNJ
973 743 0075
nfbnj1 at verizon.net
www.nfbnj.org
**


https://youtu.be/w1rOwnpABnQ



Surfing blind with a vision for a rich life
Amanda Oglesby, @OglesbyAPP 6:57 p.m. EDT August 22, 2016
http://www.app.com/story/news/local/communitychange/2016/08/22/watch-surfing-blind-vision-rich-life/88452304/

ASBURY PARK - Charles Patterson McKenna rested his hand on the arm of Andrew 
Gioulis as the two walked from the beach in Asbury Park into the frothy 
surf.

This was 42-year-old McKenna's first time surfing, and he would be doing it 
blind with the help of Gioulis, a volunteer with Christian Surfers, a 
Manasquan-based religious missionary organization.

“I've never surfed before and I’m thrilled for the opportunity today," he 
said.

In fact, McKenna, of Highland Park, has been blind since he was 5 years old, 
due to a condition called Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The condition can result 
in a painful rash, blisters, shedding and death of parts of the skin, as 
well as scarring of the eyes in severe cases like McKenna's, according to 
the Mayo Clinic.

Yet McKenna's loss of sight has not stopped him from leading a full life, he 
said. At attorney who is married with a 3-year-old son, McKenna also helps 
run the EDGE, or the Employment Development Guidance and Engagement program 
for teenagers who have vision loss. The EDGE program helps blind teenagers 
prepare for work through job shadowing, skills building, learning adaptive 
technology and independent travel, as well as other tools.



On Sunday, McKenna was among the first two people with vision loss to walk 
into the ocean for Surfing for Vision, an event organized by the Visual 
Experience Foundation and supported by the Christian Surfers of Manasquan 
and the Neptune Lions Club, which provided free eye screenings during the 
event.



With McKenna at the front of the surf board and Gioulis, 36, of Neptune at 
the back, they paddled into the waves before turning and catching one 
white-capped swell toward shore. Not long after, the board flipped and 
nearby surfers ran into the water and helped McKenna safely to shore.


Surfing for Vision was the first event of its kind for the Visual Experience 
Foundation, an organization founded by Michael Benson of Belmar. Benson, 55, 
was born with glaucoma. When he was just a few days old, he underwent his 
first of many eye surgeries, he said.

Since then, Benson has spent much of his time memorizing the sights and 
faces around him for the day he may go blind. So far, he has retained much 
of his vision. Grateful for it, he has spent years trying to help others who 
are going blind or have lost their sight.


Similar in spirit to the "Make a Wish Foundation," the Visual Experience 
Foundation provides "sight visits" for people who are going blind. So far, 
the foundation has taken people on trips to Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, 
even a helicopter ride over New York City to help these people make lasting 
memories.


"I teach people to burn visual memories," Benson said. "That's what we do as 
a foundation.

"They told my parents that eventually I'd be blind," he said.

At age 12, Brian Mackey was diagnosed with a condition that would cause the 
degeneration of his retinas and would eventually take away his sight. Vision 
loss did not stop the 28-year-old Medford resident from getting on a surf 
board Sunday and  trying the rough and bouncing waves.

"They're not in total darkness," Benson said of about 20 people with vision 
loss who participated in the event. "They might be more aware of what's 
happening here than the people that are sighted, because most of those 
people are looking at their phones. These people (with vision loss) are 
feeling and sensing and experiencing this, the spray in your face.

Joe Ruffalo, president of the National Federation of the Blind NJ, also 
tried surfing on Sunday.


"The surf won," said 67-year-old Ruffalo. "It's really a tremendous 
experience."


Though he lost his eyesight, Ruffalo said he never lost his vision – for a 
life full of hope and rich experiences. Now he wants other people who are 
losing or have lost their sight to embrace the same positive philosophy.


"Blindness does not have to hold us back," he said. "We have accountants. We 
have housewives. We have guys and gals going to school. We have people still 
figuring out what is their roll in life... We want to raise expectations."

Amanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby at GannettNJ.com