By Chris Rotolo
LONG BRANCH – “Burn it.”
For the better part of the last four decades, this meditative mantra, uttered no louder than a whisper, has allowed Monmouth County native Michael Benson to shutter his limited vision, activate his senses and preserve vivid memories of sites only partially seen.
Benson was born in 1961 with glaucoma, an incurable, degenerative eye disease that attacks the optic nerve and worsens a person’s ability to see, sometimes to the point of total blindness.
“As a young man, I was in a dark place, because when there’s no cure, you’re lost,” Benson said. “I was hitchhiking around, turning to alcohol to cope, and thinking ‘If I go blind, my life is over.’ Because if you can’t see, how would I make a living? Who could love me? I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Benson said trips with friends and family to significant locations like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon offered an opportunity to experience the world on a deeper level than simply observing his surroundings.
It’s a lesson he has worked to share with other visually impaired or blind individuals since 2014, when he launched the Visual Experience Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing those in need with the same vivid connections that saved his own life.
One of those annual happenings is the foundation’s Surfing for Vision event, which returns Aug. 20 to the Long Branch beachfront. Registration for the surfing experience is free to individuals who are visually impaired, blind, legally blind or diagnosed with unstoppable vision loss.
“This is not a ‘woe is me’ type of environment. We’re not taking ‘poor blind people’ out for a day of surfing,” Benson said. “This is an empowering experience. These individuals are coming out to brave the waves, to overcome their fears and prove to themselves that, regardless of a disability, they can do anything… It’s not always an easy concept to believe in, but it’s true.”
According to Benson, 61, generating a belief in himself and what his life could become was a difficult vision to develop in a mind clouded by negativity and substance abuse. Now, 39 years sober, Benson said he found his calling in helping other impaired individuals visualize a life beyond standard sight.
“Your mind is really good at creating a future based on the worst-case scenario. When I was a younger man, I was at a Yankees game with friends, but mentally I wasn’t there. I wasn’t in a stadium, or in my seat. I was blind, homeless, on a street corner begging for change,” Benson said. “I was broken. It was the shared experience that brought me back. If we can have that same shared experience with others, we can learn where they’re really at mentally, and start building back from there.”
Benson said the Aug. 20 Surfing for Vision event is one of the best introductory affairs of the year for his organization, where friendships are formed and mentorships are cultivated. The event features a cast of local surfers and surfing instructors, who paddle out with registrants on larger longboards, allowing riders to engage all of their senses with the energy of the ocean. The Long Branch lifeguard unit will also provide wave runner pull rides for any daring registrants. Additionally, free surfing lessons will be available to any nonregistered members of the community in attendance.
Surfing for Vision also supports the nonprofit’s ongoing efforts to fund opportunities for visually impaired individuals to enjoy experiences inside and outside the United States. Past experiences have included rides in the Goodyear Blimp, trips to Disney World and even an African safari.
Check-in for Surfing for Vision begins at 7:30 a.m. and the surfing will begin at 9 a.m. More information is available at visualexperiencefoundation.org/surfing-for-vision.
This article originally appeared in the Aug. 11 – 17, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
