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A 17-YEAR-OLD Mayo girl with sight loss will take to the tracks later this month and become one of Ireland’s first visually impaired rally navigators.
Sara McFadden was born with albinism, a congenital condition characterised by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. Because of her condition, Sara only sees a white haze and shadows in front of her when she is in the sunlight.
Alongside her albinism, McFadden lives with a condition called Nystagmus, which means that muscles behind her eyes never developed correctly and her eyes move on a constant basis. For her to be able to read, McFadden has to work to stop her eyes from moving.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, McFadden’s mother Sandra said that it was only natural for Sara to have an interest in rallying, as both herself and her husband Keith have been involved in the sport for over 20 years.
“We brought Sara to her first rally at six weeks old in the snow. It has always been in her blood, it’s her passion. It’s just something she has grown up with. We never pushed her into doing this,” she said.
Journey onto the roads
Despite growing up surrounded by the sport, McFadden’s sight loss meant that she would never be able to hold a driving licence.
“When Sara was about 12, she asked the hospital would she ever hold a driving licence. We knew the answer but we could never tell her, so the doctors told her that, no, she couldn’t,” Sandra said.
“Her sight was too bad at the time and, truthfully, it has gotten a little bit worse over the years, so the option will never be there for her to drive on the main road.”
Because Sara would never be able to drive on public roads, her parents bought her a cheap car at the age of 15 and built a track on the family’s land, where she went on to learn how to drive.
And now, although Sara still won’t be able to drive in rally races, she has made the decision to become a rally navigator – the person who sits in the front passenger seat and provides directions during a rally race.
Working with Motor Sports Ireland and the National Council for the Blind in Ireland (NCBI), Sara and her parents went through the process of medical checks to allow her to obtain a licence.
NCBI is Ireland’s national charity working for the rising number of people affected by sight loss.
“My husband had retired from rallying just over four years ago but we kept our rally cars,” Sandra said.
“When Sara got the licence, we had the car taken out and we’re trying to get it ready now for her first event.”
McFadden is due to take part in the Imokilly Rally in Cork next Sunday, sitting beside her father who will drive the car.
Sandra explained the obstacles her daughter has to overcome as a rally navigator: “When I would have been navigating, I would be reading my notes, looking up, seeing ahead, seeing what turns would be coming up in front of me.
“Sara won’t be lucky enough to have that, obviously, because she can’t see that far in front of her. So, she has become accustomed to feeling the way the car is going through her body and up through the seat.”
By doing this, McFadden will be able to tell what note to read next.
Speaking of the journey her daughter has been through to get to next week’s race, Sandra said: “She has different hurdles but Sara has always, always overcome every hurdle that has been put in her way in life.
I’m shockingly proud of Sara, I’ve always been proud of her. She has achieved so many things in life that we were told she wouldn’t be able to do.
“Sara achieves dreams. She won’t accept sitting back and letting life pass her. She believes everybody should just get out there, try everything.”
According to Census 2016, there are 54,810 people with sight loss in Ireland.
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Amazing how the official narrative does not mention the real reason for going into Afghanistan. Namely the desire for Bush et al to build a pipeline to bring the gas from the “Stans” which were newly independent of Russia. In fact it no secret that America was in negotiations with the Taliban to build same but discussions broke down. 6 months later you have 9/11 carried out by Saudis. It gave a great excuse to invade. All smoke and mirrors. Meanwhile the dependants of 9/11 victims are still trying to get access to the Saudi files which show 9/11 was a Saudi op. Question is was there collusion in same by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush.
@Gregory Pym: am I correct in saying this was addressed in Michael Moores film about the afghan invasion?
@Gregory Pym: Wow. You would swear you were there or something.
@Gregory Pym: I bet youre antivaxxer also and think the moon landings are fake. Conspiracy theorists like you are whats wrong with society today.
@Gregory Pym: Only flaw with Moores conspiracy theory is that A) America never built this pipeline and B), there was never going to be a pipleline from the the Stans all the way to America.
@Mjhint: no. Lot of sources over the years all freely available in the normal press if you care to look.
@Pauline Gallagher: the labelling of people as conspiracy theorists is what’s wrong in the world today. You’ve engaged in ad hominem and well poisoning there. He’s wrong about Saudi Arabia being directly involved, however the fact is that 9/11 was used as a pretext for invading both Afghanistan and Iraq – the latter had nothing at all to do with it.
@Pauline Gallagher: actually I’ve been jabbed twice. And no I do believe that neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I am not a conspiracy nutter. You should do some independent research. The Bush family were business partners with the Bin Laden clan for many years before the Iraq war. The CIA choose bin laden jr to lead their guerilla war as the mujahadeen against the Russians who had invaded Afghanistan. The mujahadeen morphed into ISIS eventually. The Americans also gave Saddam the technology to manufacture binary chemical weapons to use against Iran in the ten year war between them. Unfortunately Saddam blotted his copy book by invading Kuwait which historically had been part of Iraq .
@Pauline Gallagher: you can always do a bit of reading and come to your own conclusion. So what do you think as a troll
@Gregory Pym: America exports oil and gas bla leftie
@john smith iv: 9/11 was NOT an inside job by the Americans! its a disgusting accusation.
@David Saunders: What, read the theories of some sad loser cra ckpots on the internet? theres more truth in a waterford whispers article.
@Gregory Pym: And who wrote all that? john grisham?
@Pauline Gallagher:
If you’re going to brush away historic facts (such as the Unacol project in Afghanistan, or the US’s cozy relationship with Saudi military intelligence who worked directly with Osama Bin Laden) as “conspiracy theories”, then you have nothing valuable to add.
Yes, sometimes people grasp at straws to come up with mad theories. But if you don’t want to read about the history of US involvement in the middle east, you shouldn’t go around accusing people of being conspiracy theorists just because they know the history. The Taliban was formed from Mujaheddin factions, who the US had been supplying arms to up until the mid 90s.
It’s pretty odd that this force couldn’t have been neutralised by the world’s greatest army and its alliance. I don’t mean defeat Islamist ideology, that’s impossible. I mean specifically the Taliban. So that when the US left the Afghan government would have little to do.
I wonder as well about who is supporting the Taliban financially.
@john smith iv: the Americans financed them when they were fighting the Russians. So I’d hazard a guess
@john smith iv:The US cant defeat the cartels in Mexico either for the same reasons, people are afraid of their brutality. Also the problem fighting mujaheddin is that by fighting them you are actually strengthening their cause, it is a paradox. Afghanistan is the biggest producer of opium in the world, i am sure the Taliban were getting a cut if you were wondering where funding was coming from, plus i am sure the Taliban have allies in certain countries, the Russians have not pulled their embassy from Kabul I have read.
It’s been an absolute mess for a long long time. There’s a reason the Taliban are strong and that’s because they have huge support from people who have been trod all over by foreign invaders for decades. Leaving them to it might actually be for the best in the long run but I feel very sorry for the Afghan forces who have been sold out once again.
It’s a civil war caused by foreign forces meddling in their affairs. Maybe it just has to play out
Have a thought for the masses of young women who are going to have a hellish future under taliban rule, One only needs to search the darker side of the web to see that they are in for a seriously bad time.
@Frank Jasper: its depressing. Taking girls from families as sex slaves for their soldiers. From bloomberg “Now the Taliban are going door-to-door in some areas, compiling lists of women and girls aged between 12 and 45 years for their fighters to forcibly marry. Women are again being told they cannot leave the house without a male escort, they cannot work, study or dress as they please. Schools and colleges are being shut and businesses destroyed. The exodus of those who can afford to flee the country is growing by the day.”
@Chewey Bacca: And yet people complain here about their civil liberties and freedoms taken away. We are a first world society who are unbelievably privileged compared to other parts of the world
@Chewey Bacca: The Taliban are backward religious extremists but thats the religion most of their country men and women follow. Lets have facts, not more fantasy made up by people who never left the house.
This was always going to happen. The Taliban have been biding their time to this point and have struck now as all foreign forces and in particular the USA pull out from the country
@Sinead Merrigan: you should have let them know Sinead.
I heard they’re going to build a light rail system that will be totally free of charge!
@Thomas Harrington: I héard they are bringing in new sugar tax a new plastic bag tax and then the coffee cup levy followed by carbon tax – it’s to a help with the environment ya see because the environment is very important and it seems bombing the place to oblivion for 20 years hasn’t helped – some say its even made it worse – the and so can’t allow rape and pillage and war distract from the climate issue
The fall of Saigon – but a bit more organised this time.
With the American terrorists leaving, the Afghans can finally retake their own country.
The US embassy is moving to Kabul airport. Soon we’ll have pics of US soldiers cramming onto the last helicopters. When will they ever learn?
A lot of settling scores on the way not good
@Mary Paget: but they are are deferring the new carbon taxes for a while so not all bad
Let’s go all the way back to the socialist government supported by the Russians. The good old USA couldn’t stand for that and armed anyone and everyone. The Americans can’t seem to get the message “ we’ll take your arms and money “ but you’re still the great satan and they could be right.
Michael Higgins would have no problem beating talibans. Let him take over. Hail Higgins
@Nicholas O’Halloran: Do you think they would understand his brand of champagne socialism? Would he not be too busy stocking his library with public money?
@Bennett blaster: according to the Washington post the taliban are committed to low taxes on business. And they have reduced import taxes. Micky D is no fan of that carry on.
@Bennett blaster: the best President we have ever had. A true gentleman.
Played the long game. And won. We learn nothing. They have fought off 4 invasions over the past 250 years. Was it worth it? No. Cost over a trillion dollars for the USA alone. Could have rebuilt America with that loot. Kabul will fall in days and Afghanistan will be back in the hands of the Taliban. God help all the poor women and any man who gave assistance to the invaders. A wretched hole.
Horrible situation and terrible scenes .. “Vietstan”
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