MANY participants could not believe their eyes when they saw college student Tim Lok Chen Haw, 19, running with his eyes blindfolded during the Allianz Penang Bridge International Marathon 2011.
Lok is not blind — he had merely covered his eyes with cloth to highlight glaucoma, an eye disorder of the optic nerve which is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide.
He also took part in the race to raise money for an expedition in Sabah under Raleigh International next year.
Lok, who is studying in a col- lege in Sepang, relied on several ‘guides’ to steer him throughout the run.
He crossed the finishing line in five hours and 40 minutes in the men’s open full marathon category.
Racing to save sight: Lok (second left) running blindfolded with help from other runners during the Allianz Penang Bridge International Marathon 2011. He managed to cross the finish line in five hours and 40 minutes. Lok said he hoped to raise RM20,000 through his self-initiated project called ‘Run for Sight —Blindfold Marathon’.
So far, he has collected RM3,000 through the project which he ini-tiated last month.
Lok said he planned to use the RM3,000 for the expedition.
“I will be doing volunteering work for Raleigh which runs 10 weeks of community, environmental and adventure projects in Sabah.
“These projects are aimed at improving the quality of life of communities there.
“The balance of RM17,000 will be channelled to Save One Sight Mission, a campaign launched by the Malaysia Glaucoma Society.
“The society is providing free eye screening for the poor,” he said.
Lok said he was inspired by Steven Chan, the president of the society who lost his vision after suffering from the eye disorder in 2002.
“Glaucoma is actually preven-table if regular eye checks are done.
“This is Chan’s new calling in his life — to educate the public on what happened to him and stop the same thing from happening to other folk,” Lok said.
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