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By MIKE
LYNCH, Enterprise
Outdoor Writer
Posted on: Saturday,
January 5, 2008
LAKE PLACID — On the
ice, it would be
difficult to recognize
that long track
speedskater Kevin Frost
is different from the
rest of the competition.
But he is.
Frost, who suffers from
Usher’s Syndrome, can
only see eight percent
of what a normal person
does. He has tunnel
vision that is the
equivalent of looking
through a straw.
He also has only 15
percent of his original
hearing, which means he
can’t hear anything
below 90 decibels.
But that’s not what
makes him different.
His ability to cope with
those disabilities and
to compete at a high
level in speedskating is
what makes him unique.
“I’ve been thrown a lot
of obstacles and I just
keep going,” Frost said
Friday evening.
This morning, he will be
competing in the Jack
Shea Sprint at the
Sheffield Speed Skating
Oval in Lake Placid. It
is just one of numerous
speedskating
competitions that he
will participate in this
winter.
But Frost, who lives in
Orleans, Ontario,
doesn’t compete just for
himself. He also does it
to raise awareness for
people with disabilities
and to be an inspiration
for them.
“I strive to give people
a better life,” Frost
said. “I just want to
make a difference in our
society.”
There are a couple of
ways he wants to do
this. One of them is to
help ensure that the
International Paralympic
Committee recognizes
deaf-blind speed skating
as a sport.
In addition, he said he
hopes to “one day open a
foundation to help
disabled people achieve
their sporting dreams.”
Frost first recognized
there was something
wrong with him when he
was 11 years old. At
that time, his math
teacher came up to him
and mentioned that he
wasn’t responding to the
questions.
Soon after, Frost had
his hearing tested, only
to find out that he only
had a quarter of his
hearing.
But that didn’t deter
him from living a normal
life. He went on to have
three children, a
full-time job and
pursued hobbies such as
refereeing hockey. Then
in 2002, he began to
lose his vision.
That’s when he was
diagnosed with Usher’s
Syndrome type two, a
rare genetic disorder
that causes progressive
hearing and vision loss.
Instead of caving in,
Frost made adjustments,
including getting a
black lab guide dog
named Nemo, who helped
give him his
“independence back.”
And at the suggestion of
his friend and now
coach, Ron Guerard,
Frost took up
speedskating.
“I always take a
negative and put it into
a positive,” Frost said.
Now Frost trains police
guide dogs, gives
presentations at schools
to help people with
disabilities and works
as a motivational
speaker for businesses.
Instead of letting the
disabilities take
control of his life, he
used them as a means to
help others.
“My long term goal in
life is to motivate my
kids to grow up knowing
dad did what he could,”
Frost said. “He didn’t
sit around feeling sorry
for himself. And you
know what, there’s a day
I might lose all my
vision, but I’ll worry
about that when it
happens.”
On the Net:
www.deafblindspeedskater.com
Contact Mike Lynch at
891-2600 ext. 28 or
mlynch@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
CORRECTION: Ron
Guerard is Kevin's
former coach.
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