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CORBIN, Ky. (WYMT)- On Tuesday, dozens gathered for the Second Annual 'Lights Out Dinner in the Dark' event in Corbin.

The event is hosted by The Freeman Foundation and aims to teach others what it's like to live with a disability.

Travis Freeman, the CEO of the Freeman Foundation, lost his eyesight at just 12 years old.

Now he has made it his mission to educate others about living with a disability.

"We want to break down the barriers that exist between people who have disabilities and those who do not have disabilities," said Freeman.

Which is why he started the 'Lights Out Dinner in the Dark' event.

Guests at the event are blindfolded from the time they walk in until the dinner is over.

Freeman hopes it will give others a better idea of what it's like to live without eyesight.

"We want to break down those barriers and just expose people to what it's like to do things a little differently and have a different kind of experience and have some fun," said Freeman.

The guest speaker of the event and Purple Heart recipient, Matthew Bradford, said it was an honor to speak at the event. He hopes his story of living with disabilities, will help others.

In 2007, Bradford was injured in Iraq when he stepped on an IED.

He ended up losing both of his legs and his eyesight.

"I mean honestly when I got hurt, the legs were my biggest worry," said Bradford. "My one heartache that I had. I didn't really care about losing my vision, it kind of just caught up with me later on."

He said while his injuries changed his life, they didn't stop his life. In fact, his motto is "No legs, no vision, no problem".

He hopes that after the blindfolded dinner, folks will have a greater appreciation for what they can do in life.

"Just don't take things for granted because you never know," said Bradford. "People sometimes don't realize that it is difficult until they're put in that situation."

The Freeman Foundation will also hold a blindfolded 5K this summer. An official date has not been set however organizers hope it will take place in July.

Read more:
'Dinner in the Dark' gives first hand look at blindness - WYMT News (press release)

This entry was posted on March 22, 2017 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Blindness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |