Veteran embraces life despite sudden disability

Los Banos resident and Vietnam War veteran Karl McCullough has spent the past five years learning how to live life without his sight.

McCullough was a door gunner in the Army as part of the 25th Aviation Battalion from 1958 until 1979. A native of Kansas, McCullough moved to California after retiring from the military and opened a printing business in the Bay Area.

He and his wife moved to Los Banos in 1996 and he suddenly became legally blind in 2010.

“It happened overnight. I had been to a bowling alley and I was coming home from Atwater. My eyes were just watering and they kind of hurt,” McCullough said. “I woke up the next morning and it was completely black. I could see nothing at all.”

The blood vessels in the back of McCullough’s eyes were leaking blood into his retinas. McCullough,74, sees blurred shapes with the little vision he has left.

Nearly immediately, he decided his blindness would not stop him from enjoying life.

“I said ‘Well, I’ve been through hell, Vietnam and all. The good Lord wants me to live this way, so I’ll make the best of what I got,’” McCullough recounted.

His physical therapist suggested he attend the National Veterans Golden Age Games. The games, which were held last month in Omaha, Neb., featured 800 participants engaged in competitions designed to improve quality of life and promote a healthier lifestyle for older veterans. The games feature track and swimming, but also checkers, dominoes and ping pong among other events.

“My goal was to go there, enjoy, have fun ... and that’s what I did,” McCullough said. “I met a lot of people. It was a great experience.”

McCullough also brought home three medals – two silvers and a bronze – in bowling, horseshoes and shuffleboard.

“I really did a lot better than I thought I’d do,” he said. “The one with the horseshoes, he said you’ll be throwing the horseshoes from 20 feet away. I said ‘where’s the peg?’ He said, ‘It’s in the middle of the sandbox. I said ‘OK, where’s the sandbox?’”

After some practice time and getting organizers to tap the peg so he could locate it by sound, McCullough figured out where to aim. McCullough won silver in horseshoes with a score of 8, including two ringers.

In recent years, McCullough found himself relying on help from the Veterans Administration, his wife and modern technology. He counts his steps in order to maneuver around his home and uses a specialized voice-activated computer that reads web pages to him.

He said the most difficult part is bumping into people as he attempts to feel his way around stores and restaurants. Many times they don’t see his cane.

“You have to bite your tongue when someone says open your eyes and you can see where you’re going,” McCullough said.

He said he tries to tell jokes and keep a smile on his face. McCullough said his father gave him valuable advise years ago.

“He said, ‘Son as you go through life you want to keep your eye on the doughnut and not on the hole.’” McCullough said. “If you keep your eye on that hole all you’re going to do is focus on the small things, not everything around it.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Veteran embraces life despite sudden disability."