Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Alice Rasari.
Speaker 2: And I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method
Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1: Imagine walking almost nine kilometers through ice and snow. Imagine
Speaker 1: carrying a fifty liter backpack weighing twenty one kilograms for
Speaker 1: your whole trip. Imagine wind so cold it burns your
Speaker 1: face in Imagine your fingers and toes turning white. Imagine
Speaker 1: you are not walking straight ahead, but straight up. Imagine
Speaker 1: struggling to breathe because the air is so thin. Imagine
Speaker 1: your body aching. Imagine fighting to take one more step.
Speaker 1: Imagine you are climbing the tallest mountain in the world.
Speaker 1: Now imagine doing it all blind. You cannot see anything
Speaker 1: around you, but now you are standing on top of
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 2: Today's Spotlight looks at the life of Eric Wyan Mayor.
Speaker 2: Eric is blind, but he has climbed many impressive mountains.
Speaker 2: He has inspired people around the world. He has done
Speaker 2: things no one thought he could do without sight. He
Speaker 2: has become a leader to many.
Speaker 1: Wayan mayor has retinascusis with retinascusis the back of the
Speaker 1: eye splits into two layers. Usually this affects adult men
Speaker 1: and women, but sometimes it happens to children. This is
Speaker 1: called juvenile retinascusis The National Organization of Rare Disorders says.
Speaker 3: The disorder is a slow loss of parts of the
Speaker 3: field of vision. Often the final result is complete blindness.
Speaker 2: Eric Wyermeyer was only four years old when he was
Speaker 2: diagnosed with this disorder. By the time he was fourteen,
Speaker 2: he was completely blind.
Speaker 4: Eric said, I was afraid that I was not going
Speaker 4: to be able to do much in life.
Speaker 1: But Eric's parents encouraged him to get involved in wrestling
Speaker 1: at school. The sport of wrestling involves physically grabbing your
Speaker 1: opponents and holding them down. Eric became very good at wrestling.
Speaker 1: He was even the leader of his high school team.
Speaker 1: Then he discovered rock climbing.
Speaker 4: He said, shortly after going blind, I heard about a
Speaker 4: group taking blind kids rock climbing. I thought to myself,
Speaker 4: who would take a blind kid rock climbing? So I
Speaker 4: signed up.
Speaker 2: Eric immediately loved climbing. He learned to use his hands
Speaker 2: while climbing the way others used their eyes. His hands
Speaker 2: searched the rocks for cracks in the mountain This helped
Speaker 2: him know where to place his hands and feet. He
Speaker 2: did not plan his way up the mountain as other
Speaker 2: climbers did. He could not see anything above him. He
Speaker 2: learned to focus on what he could feel and touch
Speaker 2: in front of him.
Speaker 1: After graduating from college, Eric moved to Arizona to be
Speaker 1: a teacher. He went rock climbing every weekend with a
Speaker 1: group of friends. They decided to climb d Nale, the
Speaker 1: tallest mountain in North America. Afterward, Eric said, I.
Speaker 4: Thought, how amazing to make your life this great adventure.
Speaker 4: Just go to every continent and climb the tallest mountain.
Speaker 2: Over the next few years, Eric managed to climb the
Speaker 2: tallest mountains on three different continents, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa,
Speaker 2: Aconcagua in South America, and Mount Vincent in Antarctica. Then
Speaker 2: he took on the challenge of climbing the tallest mountain
Speaker 2: in the world, Mount Everest. It is in the rugged
Speaker 2: Himalayan Mountains of Asia. Many experts did not think Eric
Speaker 2: could make it to the top of Everest. Mountain. Climbers
Speaker 2: all the area above eight thousand meters the death zone.
Speaker 2: That high altitude has less oxygen a person's brain and
Speaker 2: lungs do not work well. Everest's summit is eight thousand,
Speaker 2: eight hundred forty eight meters high. Experts thought the death zone,
Speaker 2: combined with his blindness, would prove too much for him,
Speaker 2: but Eric was determined to succeed. He found a good
Speaker 2: team of experienced climbers to guide him. He got financial
Speaker 2: support from the National Federation of the Blind. In two
Speaker 2: thousand one, he and his team made it all the
Speaker 2: way to the top of Mount Everest. Eric became the
Speaker 2: first blind person to reach the highest summit in the world.
Speaker 1: The Seven Summits are the tallest mountains on each of
Speaker 1: the seven continents. Only a few hundred people have climbed
Speaker 1: all seven. After Eric climbed Mount Everest, he climbed the
Speaker 1: remaining highest mountains in Europe and Australia to complete his
Speaker 1: Seven Summits record. He is the only blind person to
Speaker 1: have done what seemed impossible.
Speaker 2: Eric then learned to kayak. A kayak is a small
Speaker 2: boat with an ore that has a blade on each end.
Speaker 2: But Eric did not want to relax on a calm lake.
Speaker 2: He wanted to kayak four hundred and forty two kilometers
Speaker 2: on the Colorado River that part of the Colorado River
Speaker 2: runs through Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. That part
Speaker 2: of the river has many dangerous sections of rapids and
Speaker 2: sharp rocks. He trained for six years to prepare for
Speaker 2: this adventure. He and the nine other people on his
Speaker 2: team successfully kayaked the the entire Grand Canyon in twenty
Speaker 2: one days.
Speaker 4: Eric said, I do not care whether people climb mountains
Speaker 4: or kayak, but we are hoping people look within themselves.
Speaker 4: I want others to ask themselves, what are we capable
Speaker 4: of doing.
Speaker 1: Eric has written three books. Several documentary films have been
Speaker 1: made about his life. Time magazine featured him on the cover.
Speaker 1: Eric started a nonprofit organization called No Barriers. No Barriers
Speaker 1: helps people overcome problems and obstacles in their lives. He
Speaker 1: constantly looks for new challenges. He searches for new ways
Speaker 1: to grow as a person. He refuses to accept any limits,
Speaker 1: including his own blindness. Fellow mountain climber Chris Morris said.
Speaker 4: Eric is mentally one of the strongest guys you will ever.
Speaker 2: Meet, whether on a mountain, on a river, or in
Speaker 2: a classroom. Eric Wyan Maya clearly sees life as a
Speaker 2: great adventure.
Speaker 1: What is the toughest challenge you are facing today. What
Speaker 1: are some ways you have tried to overcome it? How
Speaker 1: could others help you to succeed? You can leave a
Speaker 1: comment on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and
Speaker 1: x You can also get our programs delivered directly to
Speaker 1: your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight
Speaker 1: English app.
Speaker 2: The writer of this program was Peter Anderson. The producer
Speaker 2: was Dan Chrisman. The voices you heard were from the
Speaker 2: United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted
Speaker 2: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is
Speaker 2: call Seeing Clearly the Eric wyn Mayer Story.
Speaker 1: We hope you can join us again for the next
Speaker 1: Spotlight program. Goodbye.