| This article originally appeared at www.TheRecord.com Monday, April 02, 2007
Kevin Frost glides along ice, smoothly passing an opponent on his way to a gold medal at the provincial speed skating championships. After a gruelling two days of races at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, Frost makes speed skating look easy. That's no small feat for the average person, but incredible considering Frost, 39, is both deaf and blind and competing against able-bodied athletes in the men's Master's division. The Ottawa-area speed skater has Usher's Syndrome, a genetic and progressive condition that causes both sight and hearing loss. But that hasn't stopped him from racking up the medals -- 19 so far, including five golds. Frost was 11 years old when he was diagnosed with 75-per-cent hearing loss. Undeterred, he learned to read lips and for years refereed hockey, worked in a grocery distribution centre and raised three children, Madison, now 10, Montana, eight, and Mitchell, six. But at same time, he started to lose his night vision and began tripping on his kids' toys. He drove a car, although he noticed he always drove on the yellow line. "I thought that's the way everybody drove," he said. At age 30 an optometrist diagnosed him with retinitis pigmentosa. The disease is caused by his condition and is responsible for night-blindness and loss of peripheral vision. Frost was stripped of his driver's licence and his job. After 25 years and more than 20,000 hockey games, he refereed his last game when he realized he had only seen two of the 11 goals scored. He was devastated. "It was like hitting a cement wall," he said. But instead of hanging up his hockey blades, he traded them for 43-centimetre speed skates. He trains up to 12 hours a week and with the help of his guide dog, Nemo, and two workers from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, has competed in 130 speed skating matches. Disabled speed skating is not a Paralympic sanctioned sport, so Frost began competing against able-bodied skaters. Not only did he successfully finish races -- he won them. He refuses special treatment during races and has been disqualified from nine races for such things as straying outside the course markers. His only concession is that he has officials mark the course with orange cones rather than the standard black ones, because orange is easier for him to see. Frost is also a motivational speaker and has conducted sensitivity training for the Ottawa Police. He hands out noise-blocking headphones and goggles, painted black except for two pinholes for eyes, to give others a glimpse into his world. He has put the goggles on speed skating Olympic medallist Cindy Klassen and NHL great and politician Ken Dryden, whom Frost led by the arm on the ice. "He's a big tall guy," Frost said. "He looked down at me and said 'How do you do this?'" Disability has never stopped Frost from setting his sights high. He is pushing for speed skating to become a Paralympic sport, which would allow Frost access to government funding. He continues to raise awareness about the rights and needs of the disabled and hopes one day start a foundation. He has been approached to be on the Canadian rowing team for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. And yesterday, Frost was thrilled for his first provincial championship gold medal and personal best at 52.8 seconds in 500-metre short track. "I'm a very positive person. It takes a lot to get me down," Frost said. "I just wish everybody was in the same groove." |
