Image what it would be like to be a healthy individual living a normal everyday life and then waking up one morning to find you’re blind?
How would that impact on you mentally, physically and emotionally?
Well, that did happen to Ben Pettingill.
Ben experiences life in a different way to most and has learned to not just accept his new situation but embrace it.
Aged 16, Ben lost 98 per cent of his eyesight overnight to a rare genetic syndrome named Lebers Hereditary Optic Neuropathy.
This sudden, traumatic event turned his world upside down, redefined everything he knew and crushed all his childhood dreams in an instant.
Yet it was also the beginning of seeing life with a whole new view.
Ben grew up in country Victoria and after completing high school went to university to study business.
During studies he realised a passion is to inspire everyone to see the world with a whole new view he calls True And Limitless Vision.
This very unique lifestyle includes motorbike riding, water skiing and travelling extensively by himself despite only having two per cent vision and he is the only legally blind person in the world to have competed untethered in the internationally recognised Spartan Obstacle Course Race.
He has coached a basketball team, taken part in the Southern 80 water ski event, mastered riding a four-wheel motorbike, trekked the Kokoda Track and perfected mundane tasks like pouring milk into morning coffee and taking Aussie the dog walking through the park.
Although a powerful story of transformation he now speaks about the personal experience of overcoming one of the toughest adversities a person could ever face.
With the ability to capture the imagination, Ben’s speaking is exciting and transformational and his stories must be seen and heard by all as he packs his message with enthusiasm and humour.
Ben will be the guest speaker at the Coffs Harbour Chamber of Commerce breakfast this Tuesday, March 6 at C.ex Coffs.
To book call the chamber office on 6651 4101 or email info@coffschamber.com.au