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The Road to Independence

Bill Ludlow’s transition to the Trike

Bill Ludlow seated on his road trike in front of The Sight Center buildingThe responsibilities of maintaining our citizenship hinge on the ability to participate and contribute to our community in a meaningful way. After his lengthy career as a prestigious Journeyman builder reached its verge to the gable Bill was faced with a different kind of uphill challenge – a diagnosis of macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in the country.

As the condition progressed and his vision worsened, Bill found a new community at The Sight Center of Northwest Ohio. With support from the agency’s Low Vision Team, Bill learned adaptive ways to perform common daily tasks without the sight he had been using his entire life.

Yet there seemed no replacement for the internal adjustment that had to happen after rigorous attempts to restore his vision concluded with the life-altering event of no longer driving a standard automotive vehicle.

In a momentous culmination of strong will and support from his community, Bill made the transition from four wheels to three. His purchase of a remastered, automated tricycle got him back on the road to independence, performing his daily activities and achieving his goals.

Then, as for many, our nation was struck with a Pandemic in the middle of an election year. Sensible citizens alike diligently requested their absentee ballots, as did Bill. When his ballot arrived, eager with a sense of civic duty, he poured over the endless shapes, colors, and volume of paper in his hands. Equipped with magnifying tools, Bill still found no foreseeable way to accurately complete the lines of tasks to the expectation of the Lucas County Board of Elections, risking the worst offense imaginable, the ballot not being accepted

Resourceful and confident as he his, Bill called The Sight Center and inquired about his dilemma. Swiftly, he was instructed to trike over to the agency’s South Toledo facility and meet with Stacey. Together they completed the ballot accurately, filling every precious bubble to the brim with ink. Bill was then able to cross the street and mail it from the Post Office directly to the Board of Elections so his ballot could be counted.

‘‘When the odds are low and the margins are thin” said Bill, “finding a minuscule positive in the situation can lead to opportunity.’ For Bill, that opportunity was when he ‘‘finally cut through the red-tape and barriers in the pandemic to find his path to his new community at The Sight Center of Northwest Ohio.