Motivational Speaker: Lonnie Bedwell Talk
Island School PTA hosted Lonnie Bedwell, an inspirational and motivational speaker from the United States for our students and families.
Lonnie Bedwell is a blind adventure athlete and shared his inspirational journey of how sudden blindness from an unfortunate hunting accident did not hold him back from pursuing his dreams. With his courage and the support of loved ones, he found the strength to live life to the fullest and appreciate people for who they are. Lonnie’s journey of kayaking, hiking, mountain climbing, and raising three children while blind was an inspiration and an eye-opener for our students and families, to chase our dreams every single moment and day and persevere through hardships. It also gave our students a lesson to support each other, especially peers and family members who need it the most, due to disabilities or other challenges. A few important messages of Lonnie’s journey were “believe and trust yourself”, “support people in need” and “never give up” even when you make mistakes and life gets tough.
It was wonderful to see our students and parents engaged and ask Lonnie questions about forgiveness and his adventures. We also took photos with Lonnie after the talk! Very glad for the students and families who joined us for this talk and are thankful to Lonnie for showing us that “anything is possible if we believe in ourselves”.
Lonnie’s talk was in collaboration with ESF Kowloon Junior School and SENsational Foundation (a charity based in Hong Kong). The proceeds from the talk will go towards Lonnie’s charity, the Blind Veterans Association, a non-profit organization, supporting the mission of Lonnie Bedwell.
