A few weeks ago, my wife sent me the below video. She stumbled upon after seeing a picture of Robert Herjavec, from the TV Show “Shark Tank,” with Jim Platzer, a man who has 5% of his vision remaining due to Retinitis Pigmentosa.
After watching this video I was in awe. Not only has this man been down the road that I am on in terms of losing his vision, but he has overcome it. I reached out to Jim through his website (www.exceed2succeed.com) and was honored to receive a response from Jim.
This past week, Jim and I talked for the first time over the phone and the results of the conversation were just about everything I could have wanted. Jim’s story isn’t too far from my own. His vision deteriorated over time and through all of his challenges, adversity and tribulations, Jim has found a completely positive side of life, even with not being able to see.
Jim and I spoke of day to day life, emotions, realities, assistive tools and so much more and to be honest, it was one of the most inspiring and motivational calls I have ever had. His insight into his own vision loss provided me with a “road map” of sorts of my own. It was like talking to a best friend that I had only just met. With so many similarities, the conversation covered many topics and areas of life, before and after finding out about the future of going blind.
Today, I have inspiration from Jim to not only overcome the harsh reality that I’m losing my vision but that I can do it and be a better version of me through it.
Thank You Jim.