Through all the weeks that Dan O’Rourke spent on his bike -- six, to be exact -- all the road rash and flat tires, the broken fan belt on his RV, the searing temperatures and the early mornings, the longer-than-planned stopover in Joplin, Missouri, there have been so many victories: the people he has met along the way, the stories he has heard, the word he has spread, the money he has raised.
But it’s possible that nothing compares to the news the longtime NHL referee received recently from his dad, the reason he got on his bike in the first place for a 2,500-mile ride along Route 66 from Santa Monica, California, to Chicago, raising money for the National Federation of the Blind.
“He’s decided to take the challenge on of learning Braille, at 75 years old,” said O’Rourke, who has been an official in the NHL since 1999 and who will report to officials training camp Sunday. “If that’s all that came of this, then it was worth it.”
O’Rourke’s father, Tom, and his grandfather both suffered vision loss, with his father diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare eye disease that affects the retina, breaking it down slowly over time and causing blindness. The belief is that his grandfather also had the same disease, though O’Rourke never met him.
Part of the reason that O’Rourke, 50, set out on his journey on July 27 was to raise money for the NFB’s BELL (Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning) Academy, a summer program of Braille and nonvisual skills that helps low-vision children with the skills and confidence to live independent lives. At last tally, a week or so ago, O’Rourke had raised $46,000 and was hoping for more to continue coming in to support an organization that is near and dear to his heart.
Because he knows what it’s like to try to live without some of those skills. His father never learned Braille and never wanted to use a cane, denial taking hold of him. Tom was injured just before O’Rourke set out July 27, falling down the stairs, shattering his elbow, breaking his shoulder and sustaining a concussion.
That, plus the ride, may have been the push Tom needed to take the next step.
“I may even talk him into trying to get certified in it, so he can help other people,” O’Rourke said. “It’s just kind of a neat part of the story -- a huge reason behind this is the fact that he never did learn Braille or learn how to use his cane properly. Now he reached out to the CNIB [Foundation] in Canada and he’s trying to get the starter kit for Braille.
“That, to me, has been one of the real silver linings of it is that he’s decided to do that.”
