A Blind Man's Story Through a Northland Winter

DULUTH - Traveling by foot isn't ideal for most, but some people have no choice.

Life for Anmol Bhatia has not been an easy one.

“But it is doable,” he said.

Bhatia is legally blind and travels to work as a case worker at Lighthouse for the Blind. He does everything a person with 20-20 vision does, but with no vision at all.

He’s lived in Duluth for a year and a half, but before that lived in Arkansas and the Persian Gulf.

Every day he gets off the bus at 46th and Grand Avenue and walks two blocks trudging through the snow and slush with only his cane to guide him.

“There are people who are timid to get out in the snow,” Bhatia said. “And sometimes I am timid to get out.”

He’s timid because if the sidewalks aren't shoveled he has to walk in the street and battle Duluth’s traffic.

“I don't think they intentionally try to make it difficult for somebody who is blind to be able to navigate the sidewalk,” said Bhatia. “But I don't think they're aware of it.”

The sidewalks might be somewhat clear, but when he gets to a corner to cross the street he ends up risking his safety and well-being.

“For me, the challenge is sometimes you literally have to climb over the snowbanks just to get to the street where I can cross,” he explained.

It's not the safest situation, but Bhatia has been trained to travel in snow by professionals.

“If a person doesn't have enough vision to kind of see where people have walked, they have to take their cane and kind of feel for where the packed down area is on the snow,” explained Marsha Lee.

She’s an orientation and mobility specialist at Lighthouse. Her job is to teach people like Bhatia to travel safely and successfully though any conditions.

“It's got to be a collaborative effort between homeowners, the city, and businesses to make sure that the sidewalks stay as clean as they can,” Lee said.

With a lifetime of sightless travel under his belt, and a fearless personality, Bhatia pushes through the Northland winters because a pile of snow isn't going to slow him down.

“It's not impossible to get out in the snow,” he said. “It's not that a person with vision loss cannot get out and do what everybody else does on an everyday basis. It does pose a bit of a challenge, but it somebody really wants to they can get out.”

The biggest advice Bhatia and Lighthouse for the Blind can give is to make sure your sidewalks are completely shoveled and ice free because you never know who might be walking on them.