Legally blind woman on the Larapinta Trail

Legally blind Sunshine Coast woman Nicole Forbes-Hood has refused to let COVID-19 lock downs get in the way of adventure, hiking the rugged Larapinta trail when a planned expedition to Africa’s highest mountain was cancelled.

Ms Forbes-Hood, 43, was born with the degenerative eye condition aniridia, where part or all of the iris is missing.

“There’s no corrective surgery or glasses or contact lenses that can help because the whole back of the eye is not developed,” the mother of two said.

Ms Forbes-Hood had planned to hike Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise awareness and funds for Guide Dogs Queensland.

“What an incredible opportunity of a lifetime to raise funds for such a charity that’s given so much back to me, but also to be able to do something that’s completely out of my comfort zone,” she said.

However, that all changed when international travel was suspended thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I still wanted to be able to do something I’d put all this training in and hard work with my fundraising.”

After consulting with Guide Dogs Queensland and an Alice Springs-based tour company, Ms Forbes-Hood decided that she and her husband, Manaia, would give the Larapinta Trail a go.

“It wasn’t until I started researching (the trail) that I could get a really good understanding of how tough this was actually going to be for me.”

Key points:

• Nicole Forbes-Hood has the genetic degenerative condition Aniridia which means she is legally blind and relies on Oskar her guide dog
• She recently walked a 65 km section of the Larapinta Trail in Central Australia to raise $6000 for Guide Dogs Queensland
• She relied on her husband to give her voice cues to navigate the difficult terrain

Source
ABC News