Lonnie Bedwell
is a blind U.S. Navy veteran who led a team of four other blind veterans to kayak
226 miles down the Grand Canyon. He shares his experience with us lending me to wonder, who is really blind. The effort by these truly wonderful veterans was documented on Street View).
I believe we can’t abandon our sense of adventure because we lose our
ability to see it, and it has become my goal to help people who live
with similar challenges, and show them that anything is possible. In
2013, Lonnie became the first blind person to kayak the entire 226 miles of
the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. That did not stop him there. He wanted to share the experience or as he says it, to pay it forward. Lonnie teamed up with the Team River Runner,
a nonprofit dedicated to providing all veterans and their families an
opportunity to find health, healing, community, and purpose. and the rest is history recorded in Google Street View. Thank you Google for lending a hand these relentless warriors.
Blind Veterans Travis Fugate, Kathy Champion, Lonnie Bedwell, Brian Harris, Steve Baskis taking a break in Redwall Cavern.
While we no longer have the ability to see, we still have the power of our senses. The transformative and healing power of exploring wild and natural landscapes like the Grand Canyon can be experienced, felt, and sensed. We are elated to be able to share it with the world in Street View. You may not be able to feel, smell, and touch it like we did, but experiencing it in 360 seems like a good way to start. --Lonnie
Google Maps
