Phone: 252.443.7551

Spring 2007

Regina Pepper rolled her wheels into position just short of the foul line. With the bowling ball perched atop a curved metal chute, she gave it a mighty shove down and onto the lane. Eight pins fell. With the second ball again in position, she let it rip. She made the spare! Not a noteworthy event? It is when you consider that Regina is both blind and in a wheelchair.

With a big grin on her face she declared, “I’m not handicapped. I may be slow, but I’m not handicapped! I can do just about anything I set my mind to.”

In her mid-30’s Regina began to feel numbness in her feet and a loss of balance. “The doctors found out it was a nerve disease,” she explained. “I gradually lost my sight and couldn’t get around without a walker.”
She acknowledged that losing her sight was very difficult at first. “Giving up driving kind of got to me,” she admitted, “but then I just had to accept it.” She made the decision to spend 22 weeks at The Governor Morehead School for the Blind, where she learned to sew, cook and read Braille. “I went because I knew I could do more than I was doing,” she confessed. “If I’m challenged I will stand up to it and never say no.” She also credits her husband William with helping her cope. “He’s my protector and friend,” she said. “I’m lucky to have him.”

Today she participates in fund-raising events for the National Federation of the Blind, attends her support group for the blind and goes to conventions. Her four children are grown now, but come back to visit every now and then. “And there’s the bowling league on Fridays,” she remembered, as she flashed that smile. “Can’t miss that!”
Although there is a part of the radio reading service she doesn’t care for, she wouldn’t want to be without it. “I don’t like the obituaries,” she confided, “but I like the exercise program and the stories. I enjoy hearing about what’s going on, and since I can’t read the newspaper, I’m so glad to have it.”

With conviction in her voice she stated emphatically, “If I could tell people one thing it would be ‘believe in yourself, have a positive attitude and know that you can do it. You just have to work for what you want.’” Regina is certainly living proof of that.