mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 9/9/05 at 04:34 PM |
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S African is fastest blind driver
At long last we have a way of explaining the poor driving skills out in the Dark continent...........
South African Hein Wagner has become the world's fastest blind driver.
Driving a red Maserati V8 Gransport, he notched up 269km/h (167mph) along an airstrip in north-west South Africa
"It is an absolutely awesome feeling. It was over so fast," the 33-year-old said, after breaking the previous 233km/h (144mph) record.
Blind from birth, Mr Wagner is a motivational speaker from Cape Town and was raising funds for the South African National Council for the Blind.
"We've raised 60,000 rand ($9,500) so far and I'm aiming to get 100,000 rand ($15,500)," he told the BBC News website on his
arrival back in Cape Town.
'Blind man with vision'
The record was set on an airstrip because blind people are not allowed to drive on public roads, he said.
I'm exhausted, I can see why people don't break manage to break records very often
Hein Wagner
"I had five hours training in the car before I made the attempt," he said.
He said he had to drive the sports car, owned by the car dealer Viglietti, without any insurance.
"Unsurprisingly, nobody would risk insuring a blind driver," Wagner said.
"I'm exhausted, I can see why people don't break manage to break records very often."
He describes himself as a "blind man with vision" and this is not his only intrepid sporting success.
In 1998 he was part of the South African blind cricket team which won the first-ever blind World Cup.
He has also completed two marathons; climbed 10 of the highest mountains in South Africa's Western Cape region and finished the Cape to Rio
Yacht Race in 1993.
His next ambition, he says, is to break the blind world air speed record in a plane.
"I enjoy flying, so I'll investigate that perhaps in the next six months," he said.
[Edited on 9-9-05 by mangogrooveworkshop]
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Russ-Turner
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| posted on 9/9/05 at 05:53 PM |
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Amazing. I managed to get lime putty in my eye at work last year... ended up in A+E on the old eye drip for an hour, eye in a bad way for a few days
but all back to normal a week after. Scared the crap out of me and it isn't until something as precious as your sight is at risk that you
realise how much it means to you.
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mak
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| posted on 9/9/05 at 06:58 PM |
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Talking of fear of loosing your sight, there is now a proven strong scientific link between smoking and going blind. (On the news the other day).
Something for you smokers to think about. You may be able to stomach the risks of cancer...etc, but could you handle being blind for the rest of your
life due to your habit.
I was shocked last night when a friends new girlfriend began smoking a big cigar! Not nice!
Lecture OVER!
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 9/9/05 at 07:36 PM |
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My wife dropped the SWAFEGA and it splashed back getting both her eyes. Six hours of eye wash in A&E and she still was hurting a week later till
some one sat on her and broke her arm! Sore eyes and sore arm ........
I got a bit of mica from the comm of a drill in my eye not good. Eyes are very fragile.
[Edited on 9-9-05 by mangogrooveworkshop]
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wilkingj
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| posted on 10/9/05 at 12:01 AM |
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Hmm I know what you mean... Many years ago when I was single I managed to drop a blob of Solder (molten Lead/Tin Mix ) into my eyeball and it stuck to
the eye. I could not scrape it off with my finger nail, but could get the edge with my finger nail.
This was about 02:30am (I was building a Radio Teletype interface board - I'm a Radio Ham)
So I got in the car and set off for the hospital driving on the good eye.
When I got there and was eventually seen after the drunks with their heads covered in blood where they had been fighting on a Sat night!.
They put a big clip on my Eyelid to hold the Lids open.
Then they anaethised the eye so I couldnt move it.
THEN>>> OWWWWWW... they sliced the solder blob off with a scalpel.
Trouble was that I got a Birds Eye View!. You cant close your eyelids cos of the clamp, and cant move your eye.
Now I ALWAYS wear eye protection now for almost anything that could be a problem.
The experience is still with me, and was one of the worst experiences I have had... Seeing the blade cut you and you cant do anything about it.
Makes me shudder even 30 years on
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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Russ-Turner
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| posted on 10/9/05 at 08:24 AM |
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I think I speak for everyone when i say "ouch!" Can't believe you had to wait for the drunks though, i got rushed straight
through... probably because it was lime though.
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