Can you imagine blindfolding yourself and negotiating your way across the busiest street in Brisbane. Nope I can't even dare consider doing such a risky move. But for Dean he did this multiple times a day,(not with a blindfold, but you get the drift) on his way to work, on his way home and often a trip to the work mail box at the GPO required him to cross this busy intersection. Most of the time the pedestrian crossing was a place where the the vehicle traffic takes its turn to merge across as the foot traffic slows.
One lucky weekday on his errand to collect the mail Deano walking with the assistance of his cane was literally at a crossroad...to go or not to go was the question? Listening for the traffic to slow he believed that it was his turn to step out onto the pedestrian walkway. Taking 2 steps forward he immediately regretted his decision to cross as he felt the wind rush by his face of a silently approaching natural gas-run city bus. With his body advancing towards the middle of the road his instinct was to put his arm out in front of himself to stop his onward motion. For just one instant Deano's hands were touching a moving bus! Eek!!!
Like something out of a James Bond action movie my stuntman pushed himself against the moving bus wall, propelling himself backward, away from the moving passenger tank that almost collected an unwilling passenger along the way. An onlooking taxi driver calls out to Deano appropriately "Close call mate!" And with that the midday traffic continued crossing paths in the middle of Brisbane City without even noticing that Deano was almost squished!
To this day my Blindman still remarks about how luck was on his side that day...and I am sure every visually impaired person can recall occasions where they have felt that the flip of the coin was in their favour. I believe each person has a guardian angel just some of them have them working double time...in Deano's case anyway!
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