Blind Runner and Coach Build Special Bond on the Track

WASHINGTON - Sometimes you can win without even being able to see the finish line. Jerry Gatton is a runner. He is determined and eager.

He is also blind. He was born that way.

“I cannot see nothing at all,” said Jerry. “Everything is dark.”

A voice you hear with Jerry is the steady cadence of his coach Dale Becker. He guides Jerry at Saturday morning practices in St. Mary's County and at Special Olympics competitions.

“Oh, I love Special Olympics,” Jerry told us. “I love it with all my heart.”

“They give us three lanes,” said Dale. “One lane for Jerry. One lane for me. And he has an extra lane so that if he needs to wander of a little bit, he has that space to do it.”

On this steamy spring day, the sun beats down on the track. The sweat drips, but Jerry never quits.

“Don't ever say you can't do it people because you can do it,” said Jerry. “You try to do it. Don't say I can't do it. Say I can do it.”

To read more on this story, click here: Blind Runner and Coach Build Special Bond on the Track