A legally blind woman and a blindfolded colleague will take part in the City2Sea run to show the public what people with a disability can achieve.
Kathryn McPherson, who is an assistant team leader at Yooralla’s UCAN Cafe in Williamstown, will run with Yooralla sales and marketing manager Tom Bevan. They will have support runners to be their ‘eyes’.
Ms McPherson said she was motivated to join the event after Mr Bevan told her he was going to run with a blindfold.
Ms McPherson walks with a cane but has partial vision and can see people’s reactions to her in the street.
“A lot of them avoid me, to be honest, or they go, ‘she has a cane’, pointing me out to their friends,” she said. “Because I’m going to get a guide dog ,I plan to do another run with a guide dog just to see how people react.
“I thought it was a good idea to challenge people’s perceptions.
“People see someone with a cane or a guide dog or someone with a carer and they think, oh, no, that poor person, look at all the things they can’t do.
“And you know what? It’s completely just wrong. I mean, look at all the things I can do.” Money raised will go towards creating more jobs at UCAN, which has another cafe at Altona North library.
The cafes provide employment and training for young people with disabilities.
Hobsons Bay council and library staff will support the pair by running in the five and 14 -kilometre events on November 17.
