Marla Runyan (Blindness)Jan 4, 1969

• At the age of nine, Runyan developed Stargardt’s Disease, which is a form of macular degeneration that left her legally blind.

• Marla Runyan is a three time national champion in the women’s 5000 meters. She won four gold medals in the 1992 summer Paralympics.

• In the 1996 Paralympics she won silver in the shot put and gold in the Pentathlon. In 2000 she became the first legally blind paralympian to compete in the Olympic games in Sydney, Australia.

• She holds various American records such as 20,000 Road (2003), All-female Marathon (2002), 500m (2001) , Heptathlon (1996).

• In 2001, she co-wrote and published her autobiography ‘No Finish Line: My Life As I See It’

Ludwig van Beethoven (Deafness) 1770-1827

• Beethoven is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in history. He gave his first public performance as a pianist when he was only 8 years old.

• He studied in Vienna under the guidance of Mozart. By his mid-twenties he had earned a name for himself as a great pianist known for unpredictable and brilliant improvisations. In the year 1796 Beethoven began losing his hearing.

• In spite of his illness he immersed himself in his work and created some of the greatest works of music.

• Beethoven’s finest works are also the finest works of their kind in music history: the 9th Symphony, the 5th Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Late Quartets, and his Missa Solemnis.

• He achieved all this despite being completely deaf for the last 25 years of his life.

Nick Vujicic