 Poster: A snowHead
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Kevin Alderton, an ex-soldier, who was blinded by thugs, has become Britain's first blind ski instuctor.
In April of this year he hit 100.94mph , a new downhill record for a blind person...
His new job is teaching school kids how to ski at a dry slope in Chatham, Kent.
Story here
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Saw him training in Les Arcs -I think !!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Shared a couple of hours and few beers with Kevin on the snow train last March, cracking fella and really good company. Kind of make you feel humble at the way he just gets on with life doing more than most will ever do.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Ok taking nothing away from him, but I'm curious, how can a blind person be a ski instructor even if it is on an artificial slope ? Surely without the ability to see what your students are doing it must be incredibly difficult ?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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D G Orf, Evidently not!!
Wow, what an inspiration.
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Did they ever catch the ****ers who blinded him?
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Surely without the ability to see what your students are doing it must be incredibly difficult
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it might be different on plastic, but I remember one instructor who could tell, when I was just a metre or two behind him, exactly what I was doing wrong from the sound of my skis. Either that or he had eyes in his backside.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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and now he will be attempting a new indoor skiing record in Holland on 15th November during National Ski and Snowboard week.
More here
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He's even got his own website called "nosightnofear"
http://www.nosightnofear.com/
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As a friend and I left a pub in Islington, London, we noticed an argument between two men and a woman across the road. Before we could take breath and assess what was going on, the two men then started to assault her in a doorway. My friend and I instantly ran across the road to help. On arrival, we managed to restrict the two men, and get the woman to safety. We eventually managed to get the attackers into wrist and arm locks and bring them under control by sitting on them. Disgusted by their actions, we called out to the doorman of the pub we had just left, to get help and ring for police assistance. The doorman went inside to ring the police. We thought help was not far away, until the pub doors flew open and around 25-30 men came running towards us. It soon became very clear that this was not assistance for us, but for our attackers. Not wanting to leave each other, my friend and I tried to stick together, but the mob was too big. Eventually the mob ruled, and I was punched and kicked to the ground and pinned down. My arms were pulled wide and two people knelt on my wrists, whilst another person knelt on my shoulders and continuously drove two fingers into my eyes.
Eventually, the mob ran off, as sirens in the background became louder and louder… but the help never came. After regrouping with my friend, we ran for it, and eventually managed to find a police van parked up about a mile away.
After reporting the incident to the police, we returned to the scene in their van to try and positively identify some of those who had been involved, but, surprise, surprise, they had gone. The doorman were questioned about the incident, but denied it had happened, and low and behold, all the CCTV tapes were missing too. Oh well, but that’s the way it goes…
It wasn’t until the next morning, when driving home along the motorway, that I noticed my vision wasn’t as it should be. Thinking that I was just battered and bruised from the night before, I started to see large dark spots in front of my eyes, and big blobs floating around. Suddenly I sneezed, and when I opened my eyes, everything was black. Somehow, I managed to get the car onto the hard shoulder and stopped. I climbed out of the passenger door, and scrambled up the embankment. Luckily, I had a mobile phone in my pocket and eventually managed to ring 999. The police and ambulance services arrived in a matter of minutes and took me straight to Moorfield’s Eye Hospital in London. Following an emergency scan on my eyes, it was diagnosed that I had detached my retinas, split my left cornea and dislodged both of my lenses.
After nine operations in seven months to save my sight, I eventually came to realise that my sight as I had known it had gone. For the rest of my life I would only have around 4% vision. This means that I can only see shapes, shadows and colours. I was devastated to say the least, and felt that my world had completely collapsed. This became a reality when I was entered onto the blind register in December 1998. The next three years saw an all time low for me. I had hit rock bottom, with no wish to take part in life or what it had to offer, but then along came St. Dunstans. |
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Puts things into perspective doesn't it. Never ceases to amaze me the depths people descend to with acts of mindless thuggery and the heights people rise to in the face of such adversity. I hope his new career goes well - I suspect it will.
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FAQ
