Keeping fit often means sharing a busy pathway with cyclists, runners and walkers, but imagine facing the task of doing it all without being able to see or hear. It is a challenge many disabled athletes face, unless someone agrees to be their eyes and ears.
Newly formed group Achilles Brisbane pairs visionand hearingimpaired (受损的) athletes with a person who would like to guide them.
"When we go out, we're always going out into an unknown course," said Achilles Brisbane president Jane Britt, who is both visionand hearingimpaired. "It's much less frightening to have someone beside you that has full hearing to listen for you and tell you what's there."
Ms Cullen and Ms Britt meet up most Saturday mornings to take part in the free fivekilometer Southbank park run. Their partnership is built on trust, but Ms Britt said that it took time to develop.
Ms Britt said it took an unexpected storm for her to trust Ms Cullen completely. "There was violent rain, my glasses were broken and we were walking together," she said. "I suddenly had to tell her I couldn't see anything, and I was going to have to completely trust her. From that time I knew it was going to work because she was so good about dealing with the special situation we both found ourselves in."
Isabella Allen and her seeingeye dog Tatum are two new additions to the Achilles program. Ms Allen kept active by running and cycling, but found it difficult to keep going as her vision became worse. After nearly giving up completely, she worked up the courage to ask Brisbane to find someone to share a boat with her.
Ms Allen said the fear of not finding anyone to row with almost stopped her from reaching out to Achilles Brisbane. "But, they found people and matched me to them," she said. "It's the best thing I've ever done."
