Seven days for 700km, no sight
Jo Frogatt and Petronella Spicer have been challenging perceptions about blind people for most of their lives.
Both have lived with the effects of retinitis pigmentosa for more than 20 years – a condition that slowly causes the person’s vision to deteriorate.
Spicer is now completely blind, while Frogatt still has a degree of light perception.
The pair will join five others with low vision or complete blindness on a 700 kilometre journey, over seven days, from Tauranga to Wellington.
The Blind Foundation’s ‘‘7 Day Challenge’’ will have its participants sailing to Tuhua wildlife refuge in a modern waka, peddling the Taupo Flyer and climbing Mount Tongariro. A film crew will follow their progress.
Frogatt and Spicer will not have the company of guide dogs Fletcher and Ellie, but will be coached throughout their journey.
For both Christchurch women, the trip will be another opportunity to shift people’s perceptions about what can be achieved by the vision impaired.
‘‘The fact I couldn’t see anymore was very challenging in the early days, but now I’ve come to terms with it I’ve basically been able to do anything and everything I want to do,’’ Spicer said.
Frogatt said the biggest impact her impairment had on her life was not being able to drive, but almost everything else was the same.
The challenges over seven days would be equally important for their potential impact on others with low vision or blindness.
Frogatt said factors such as employment were another challenge for blind people. It was not employers posing barriers ’’but barriers they put in their own way’’, she said.
‘‘A lot people kind of get that attitude of, ‘oh, I can’t do that’, or ‘Maybe I shouldn’t’ . . . there are always ways around things.’’
Despite their eagerness to take on the trek, neither said they were completely free of nerves.
Frogatt said their willingness to take part in the activities, outside of a sheer interest in simply experiencing what it had to offer, came down to trust.
‘‘If you have the right supports, the right attitude, why on earth wouldn’t you have a go at something?’’
They had trained for the excursion, often together, by walking at Rapaki or running in Hagley Park, but activities like traversing the Whanganui River in both a jet boat and then a 10-person Canadian canoe was ‘‘a dream’’ for Spicer.
‘‘It’s activities I would never ever have the chance to do on my own . . . things like sailing in a waka, that’s going to be magic.’’
The team will arrive in the capital on October 7 to coincide with the Blind Foundation’s Blind Week street collection.
"If you have the right supports, the right attitude, why on earth wouldn't you have a go at something?" Jo Frogatt