SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Visually impaired people face challenges in some sports like rock climbing. But in North Carolina, two people are overcoming that challenge and climbing with the help of a volunteer. As part of our series Here to Help, Elvis Menayese with WFAE in Charlotte went to a climbing center to check it out.
ELVIS MENAYESE, BYLINE: Jonathan Faryadi enters a rock-climbing center near uptown Charlotte with a friend.
JONATHAN FARYADI: Over here, Eric. We can put your stuff - how about right here? Bottom two - you got a good cubby.
MENAYESE: Thirty-seven-year-old Faryadi and 43-year-old Eric Strong are wearing matching T-shirts. They say - limitless para athletes. Strong places his hand on Faryadi's shoulder as they head to a climbing wall.
FARYADI: We're good right here.
MENAYESE: Faryadi volunteers at least once a week helping Strong, who is visually impaired. Strong relies on Faryadi's cues.
ERIC STRONG: Where am I going?
FARYADI: You're going out right hand first to here.
STRONG: OK.
FARYADI: And then you're going to bring your left hand in to where your right hand was. And then you're going to go right hand out one more to here.
STRONG: All right.
FARYADI: Yep. And then you're going to go up.
STRONG: How are my feet?
FARYADI: Feet are pretty good.
MENAYESE: He met Faryadi at a running store where Faryadi used to work. They run marathons together using a hand-support tether. Faryadi has been climbing for eight years. When he's not climbing, he helps coordinate developments in the center city and has been helping Strong learn rock climbing for about a year and a half.
FARYADI: Satisfying - satisfaction of seeing him working through routes and just getting better, it's fun watching people progress.
MENAYESE: Faryadi says he appreciates the moments with Strong.
FARYADI: It's inspiring. It's a big responsibility guiding him, but it's inspiring knowing that he trusts you.
MENAYESE: As for what it's like having Faryadi's support, Strong says...
STRONG: It's a blessing, honestly.
MENAYESE: Strong was born with congenital glaucoma, a rare eye condition.
STRONG: I had a surgery that went wrong in, like, 2015, and so it chopped my vision in half, and then it just, you know, kept degenerating.
MENAYESE: He says that hasn't stopped him, though.
STRONG: I just feel like I'm out here. You know what I mean? And it's like, I'm not letting my blindness deter me from anything, you know? And it's not going to stop me from doing anything I want to do.
MENAYESE: Strong is joined by his friend, Norman Fairley.
STRONG: Norm, you good?
NORMAN FAIRLEY: Yeah.
MENAYESE: Fairley is dressed in black from head to toe. The 42-year-old is also visually impaired. He's never tried climbing before.
FAIRLEY: Man, I'm excited. I don't like letting my vision stop me from wanting to do something that I know I can do if I just put the effort into it.
MENAYESE: Fairley is about to climb a 20-foot wall strapped into a harness. Faryadi helps him get set.
FARYADI: Once you're hooked in, now you can unhook the piece from the mat.
FAIRLEY: OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLICK)
FARYADI: So then that. Step back a little bit.
FAIRLEY: All right.
FARYADI: So that's your landing zone.
FAIRLEY: All right.
MENAYESE: Fairley climbs about five feet with auto belay, the device that gently lowers climbers.
FARYADI: All right, now just jump off. Get a sense for falling. Just jump off. OK.
FAIRLEY: Oh, [expletive].
FARYADI: Kick it.
FAIRLEY: (Laughter).
FARYADI: Once you're a little higher, you're going to go whoosh.
FAIRLEY: OK. OK. OK. Cool.
FARYADI: Just so you feel it, you know?
FAIRLEY: All right.
FARYADI: Go for it. Go all the way up.
MENAYESE: How did that feel, Norman?
FAIRLEY: It was great, man.
MENAYESE: Faryadi says he enjoys using his skills and hobby to help people like Strong and Fairley climb to new heights. For NPR News, I'm Elvis Menayese in Charlotte.
(SOUNDBITE OF MILES JOHANSON'S "REVISITED PLACES")
DETROW: And this week marks one year of our Here to Help series. Our thanks to everyone who has sent their ideas on who to feature. For more stories of service and volunteerism and to make your own nomination, you can visit npr.org/heretohelp.
(SOUNDBITE OF MILES JOHANSON'S "REVISITED PLACES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
