A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A Utah man who lost his sight found courage and support in the sport of rock climbing. He’s now a six-time paraclimbing national champion and world champion. Here’s Wyoming Public Radio’s Hannah Habermann.
HANNAH HABERMANN, BYLINE: Justin Salas, who’s 30 and lives in Salt Lake City, became legally blind about 16 years ago. He lost his sight to optic neuropathy, a degenerative condition caused by damage to the optic nerve. He now sees with what he refers to as donut vision.
JUSTIN SALAS: So I just have peripheral…
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh, OK.
SALAS: …No central. So I can get around and look like I’m not visually impaired. But if you could imagine, when you try and look at something, it disappears.
HABERMANN: Salas took up rock climbing about eight years after he lost his sight.
