Traveling at the Speed of Sight
CBN.com This is 42-year-old Mike Newman, and his seeing-eye dog, Ross. Every morning Ross escorts Mike on the 30-minute commute from Sale to Wilmslow, where Mike is a bank manager in England.
"I’ve been blind all of my life," Mike explains. "When I was a lad, I could see a little bit, but not much. The little bit I had I lost, so at the moment I can’t see anything.”
Other than his blindness, Mike is an ordinary British gentleman… or is he?
People on the subway would never guess that he’s a businessman one day, a daredevil the next. He’s about to try to break his own record for land speed racing.
“I’m going to attempt to be the first blind person to drive a car, on my own, over 200 miles an hour," he says. "Why? Because I like cars. And that probably is as simple as that. I enjoy cars."
Mike has set the standard for land speed racing by a person without sight -- setting the first world record for driving a motorcycle at 89 mph and reaching the speed of 144 mph in a Jaguar XRJ. That broke the previous 141 mph record.
On this ride, he’ll be pushing the limit of an Invicta S1 GT supercar. His project manager explained why he’s on board.
“Mike’s faith is in God," says his project manager. "Without his faith in God, he wouldn’t be able to do this because he’s aware that what he’s doing is dangerous. He’s not a reckless child or teenager. This is a mature man with a wife and two children, so he’s obviously a normal everyday gentleman. He believes this is the right thing to and God wants him to do it. And I'm going to help him.”
So, how does Mike do it?
In a nutshell, through computerized communication, explains Mike's project manager, John. "Mike’s going to have a laptop computer system, via sound messages, that will tell Mike, 'Drive on a straight line' basically through pulses and beeps. If he differs off the straight line, we’ll give him certain messages that will allow him to correct the car.”
Sounds a lot like there’s a faith principle here, being guided by someone who can see what we can’t. But what’s Mike’s point of view?
“I prayed to Jesus that I wouldn’t crash," he says. "I believe that Jesus is in my heart, not only in the car, and He’s with me all the time. I talk to God and make sure He’s happy that I’m doing it. I want to pray for the right people to help me, and God, I believe, finds me the people I need. I pray that the people that are gathered around me today have been presented to me by Jesus. “
Obviously, this “handicap” is not what “drives” Mike. He is exceeding his limits.
“I think from an early age what I wanted to be is achieve as much as I could within the parameters that I’ve been set," says Mike. "It's just realizing an ambition and a dream that I have.”
This ambition is evident not just in his racing, but also in his faith.
“I believe one day -- I don’t know when -- I will see again and I will see properly because Jesus, that’s what He does. He heals people,” Mike concludes.
