by Daniel Parker, RDPFS Intern
People living with blindness and vision loss are constantly finding surprising and ingenious ways to do what they love in spite of their impairments. Such as the case with Miyoshi Takei, who created what we now know as blind tennis by adapting the standard game. That is also the case with Dan Parker (no relation to present author) and Sheldon Wilson, two blind drag racers. Parker, from Columbus, Georgia, wants to be “the world’s fastest blind man.” Calling himself “The Blind Machinist,” Parker is a former Pro Mod drag racer who went blind due to an accident in 2012. Born to a “racing family” in Salem, Alabama in 1970, Parker raced and won several prestigious titles until his “wreck” in 2012. In 2013, he built his own motorcycle and raced it at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Parker has designed his own system of audible feedback which enables him to correct course unaided. He now does the same with his 2008 Chevrolet Corvette. Parker has a website, a lengthy interview on YouTube, and stories on numerous other outlets. Sheldon Wilson, from Alaska, is a Dodge Challenger Hellcat racer who is legally blind and uses a sighted assistant to help him stay on course. An article about him can be found here, and you can also find him on Instagram.
