Ben Underwood ~ Against All Odds

Having served 2 years 4 months in national service. "Against All Odds" was the motto that we live by.

Recently, i came across this amazing story that is truly against all odds. I would like to share the story of Ben Underwood with you. Without the ability to see with his eyes, Ben can skate, cycle, plays basketball and even Video games!

Here i will attempt to provided the summary on a documentary "The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes" that i caught on a SQ flight.

Ben Underwood, who stays in Sacramento, was born a normal kid. At the age of 3, he was diagnosed with retinal cancer. His mum have to make a very difficult decision - to remove his eyes to save his live. Mrs Underwood decided that she will be strong and encourages Ben. Giving him confidence and courage to lead a normal life.

After Ben woke up from the operation, he told his mum, "Mum, i cannot see..."
Instead of informing Ben that he had lost his sight, she took his hand and touches her face. "You can see. You can see with you hands"
She brought her hands under his nose. "You can see, you can see with you nose"
"Can you hear me?", she asked. "You can see with you ears".

Mrs Underwood instills in Ben, "Everything is possible" mindset and an ultra strong self belief. As countless self improvement and motivational gurus advocated, our beliefs limits our achievement. In order to achieve, we must first believe.

In less than a year after Ben's operation, he began to "see". Ben was sitting on the back seat of the car, while his mum was driving past the city area, when he told his mum that there is a build at the side. Some how, little Ben was able to differentiate building and streets as he passes by. What his has just learned is called "Echo-location". It is a technique that bats and dolphin used.

Over the years, Ben refined his skills in echo-location, to the extend that he is able to ride a bicycle, plays basketball, inline-skate and even play video game!

Ben refuses to use walking cane as a tool to help him gain greater independence. He sees the walking cane as a sign of handicap. His mum manage to contact and get Mr Daniel Kish, Director of World Access For the Blind to help Ben.

Daniel is also visually handicapped, he uses both echolocation and a walking stick to help him navigate and go on hike in mountains. He brought the point across to Ben that while echo location is a fantastic skill, it has limitation. A deep pit produces similar echo to a curb or a railing. While using echo location, one may just attempt to step over it and fatally dropping into the deep pit hole. Finally, Daniel manage to convince Ben that walking stick together with echo location can increase his mobility and independence.

I think this is such an amazing story of cruel turn of fate and pure determination and belief. It is about "turning lemons into lemonade". Which everyone can learn from.

As a parting note, i would like to share a powerful statement that Daniel Kish brought up.
"Anyone who says 'I have nothing to learn' has severely limited themselves in terms of opportunity for doing more"

"Seeing" is believing check him out on UTube

Photos of Ben

Boy Who See With Sound : People.com
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