A pilot helps Steve Hartman’s blind nephew live out his dreams of flying! This is such an incredible and inspiring story that reminds us no matter the struggle or trial, we can live out our dreams.
Steve’s nephew was born blind, and when Ted realized he was blind, Ted felt like he was doomed. Ted says the challenges of navigating the world felt insurmountable because he just wants to be like everyone else. Knowing his nephew’s struggles, Steve set out to show Ted that blindness isn’t an obstacle.
As a reporter, Steve uncovered a blind drag racer named Dan Parker. In 2012 he was in an accident that took his sight. But that didn’t stop Dan from making a life for himself. After the accident, Dan wasn’t about to give up on what he was born to do.
“I’ve been a racer my whole life, I just had to find another way to do it,” he said. He is a machinist by trade, so Dad got adaptive equipment so he could continue his passion of working on cars.
Dan even designed and built an entire race card as a blind man. As if that isn’t enough to prove there’s no such as limitations, he wanted to break the world record for driving the fastest car blindfolded.
With a sighted driver beside him, Dan broke the Guiness Book of World Record’s driving a car blindfolded at 211 miles per hour! Can you imagine? Through faith, not sight, Dan is proving to the world that we can do all things through Christ.
It also inspired Ted, who thought if Dan can break world records driving a car blind, then maybe he could fly a plane. When Steve’s story was released about Dan and Ted, a man named Sidney Irish decided to help Ted’s dream of flying a plane come true! Irish helped Ted fly a plane without sight.
What an incredible way to teach the world about kindness, compassion, and learning to adapt. For a kid who once thought he was doomed, through Irish, Dan, and his uncle, he now knows there’s a world full of possibilities.
Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.”