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First Blind Governor

David Paterson is legally blind. He lost most of his eyesight when he was a baby and he contracted an infection which damaged his optic nerve. He doesn’t need a cane or a trained guide dog and he can see a few shapes as well as a person who is very close. Even with this condition, Paterson has done things most of us will never achieve. Next week he will be promoted from Lt. Governor of New York to the top Governor’s post.

He will become, not only New York’s first blind governor but New York’s first black governor. Paterson graduated from Columbia University and Hofstra Law School and served Harlem in the state Senate from 1986 until 2007. Dr. Michael Ehrenhaus is a director of surgery at SUNY Downstate Medical Center who says that individuals like David Patterson who are legally blind are often quite functional to the surprise of others. Examples that he cites are the musician Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.

In modern society, it is has become much easier for blind people to succeed. There are blind judges and city attorneys. In 1915, congressman Thomas Schall was elected in Minnesota and, in 2002, another judge Richard Teitelman was appointed to the Supreme Court in Missouri. This kind of thing is becoming more common every year and it is certainly an achievement that everyone can celebrate together.

Source: Fox News

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