It started with little things — he couldn’t see the ball while playing cricket, the letters on the page suddenly seemed too small — but Sagar Baheti wasn’t alarmed. A trip to the doctor and things would be right as rain again, he thought. However, the diagnosis was devastating. He suffered from Stargardt’s disease where his eyesight would continue to deteriorate. But, he refused to let it get him down. He is now set to be the first visually-impaired Indian to participate in the Boston Marathon, in April, this year.
Baheti explains how he could read, write and drive like everyone else. However, it was while playing cricket and he couldn’t spot the ball that caused him to seek help. “I thought my power had increased. But the ophthalmologist sent me to a general physician, who in turn directed me to a retina specialist.” In 2012, he was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease. However, his vision remained clear till 2014.
Raising awareness
He elaborates on how, though cricket was his first love, he gradually decided to take to running. “You don’t need to see to run a marathon. My vision isn’t that bad so I can see obstructions at the pace I’m going,” he adds. For the 31-year-old, participating in the marathon is more an opportunity to raise and generate awareness than the praise and a sense of achievement that will ensue on taking part in the event. “Of course, it’s a big thing to run the Boston Marathon but I look at it from a different perspective. I want to start a support group for visually impaired people in India, and that’s only possible if I have some credibility,” he says.
He explains how being visually impaired is a fight. “It will be great if our society could be more inclusive and aware of those who live with disabilities. It’s not that people are bad but, sometimes, they are in such a rush, that they don’t realise that even a few minutes that they can spare to help someone, will go a long way.” He is thus planning to use this opportunity to raise $7,500 for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, an organisation that builds advanced low-vision devices that make daily commutes easier for the visually impaired.
Despite suffering from a crippling problem, Baheti is determined to not let the problem get the better of him. “The more you put yourself in difficult situations, the better. I don’t need to work; if I wanted, I could live a comfortable life but I don’t want that. My eyesight will only get worse from here so I want to be prepared. Hopefully, this way I can help people who are less privileged.”
