Non-profit organization helps empower athletes who are visually impaired
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Everyone remembers the trepidation of the first time riding a bike.
Now imagine doing that without being able to see. That's what blind athletes are doing with the help of a local non-profit organization, Envision.
"Our core mission is to increase opportunities for athletes who are blind or visually impaired so they can get exposed to a wide variety of sports," Envision Executive Director Wendy Fagan said.
Envision helps blind athletes with all levels of sight impairment compete in sports through the use of instructors who help them learn to swim, ride bikes and run track. One such athlete is Trey'von Thomas, who was born with full vision which has since deteriorated.
"I used to be able to see but as time went on it's gotten worse," Thomas says. "Now everything is in a dark shade of gray, and it's going to go to a complete nothingness soon. I know it, but I've come to terms with it. I've decided that even if I don't have sight, I'm still going to do the things that I love doing. That's not going to slow me down, not even a little bit."
That relentless drive to overcome disability is at the core of what Envision tries to instill in their athletes. It just does not preach participation, it focuses on competition.
"We want our athletes to know that are physically capable of competing in sports at an elite level or at the best level that they can do, and we want to push them to make sure that they understand what that level is," Fagan says.
"This isn't something where they come and we say 'Yay, everybody wins' or 'Everyone gets a medal'. That's not what we want. I think a lot of times, people look at someone who is blind or visually impaired and kind of go into the mode of feeling sorry for them and we don't want that. It's about empowering them and making them believe that they have the skills to do the sports that they want to try."
Latrobe native Mason Semnisky is just one of many Envision success stories. He recently spent a week learning how to ski in Vermont, trying to take advantage of what sight he has left. Semnisky was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive disease that destroys one's vision slowly over time. Despite (or perhaps because of) that affliction, Semnisky has gone from participant to coach, passing on his experience and wisdom to other blind athletes.
"I've connected with certain athletes over the years and had conversations with them about their vision, especially with ones that have the same type of vision loss that I have," Semnisky says. "If they're struggling with that, I'm always happy to talk to them about it and I think it definitely helps both them and me."
Semnisky is a perfect example of how Envision supports those without sight: They push boundaries to help them compete in sports and life.
"Anyone that's ever been an athlete, when you push and succeed at something that you don't think you can do, that's such an empowering feeling," Fagan says. "That's what I want my blind athletes to feel. I want them to be able to say I'm going to do something that perhaps many other people don't believe that I can do."
Last weekend's triathlon is just one of many programs Envision runs throughout the year. Envision's most popular event is its annual summer camp, which is coming up in June.