~Ron S.

Ron shares his big laugh in the Technology Classroom at World Services for the Blind.

Larger than Life

Ron S. is a big guy. Big heart, big laugh, and he’s led a big life. Ron played football and graduated from UAPB. He opened casinos in Vegas, where he once served as point of security for Brittney Spears. He’s been a big giver, coaching Little League. He’s worked the jobs that required big effort—Juvenile Detention Centers (rehabilitating gang members), Boys Youth Facilities (Probation Officer), United Way (Case Manager), and as a crises interventionist. Ron was the first black remote train operator (conductor) for the Chicago Metro. He’s a big city guy, and always finds himself in the middle of the action, and able to take charge.

Then the action caught him by surprise. Leaving a party Christmas Day, 2020 a bullet came out of nowhere, taking the big man down for the first time in his life. When he awoke, he could count . . 1, 2, 3, and 5 fingers. He went back to sleep and awoke in the hospital. His vision was completely gone. The doctor told him he was completely blind, and Ron couldn’t believe it.

On January 3, 2021, after several negative tests, Ron tested positive for Covid in the hospital on January 3rd where he was immediately rushed into the Covid Quarantine unit. Now blind, no contact with anyone, Ron describes this as the worst moments of his life.

“I was confined to a cell. In my mind, in my physical body, in a hospital room where I was quarantined and had no idea what was around me. I was in jail.”

His big life, now shrunken to a hospital bed, was gone. Ron prayed. His conversations with God turned everything around. Ron knew that to move forward, he had to accept his life and let go of the past. He committed to the program at World Services for the Blind.

“At first, I was unhappy. I didn’t want to be around nobody. I didn’t really know where I was.” But the other clients stepped in, taking Ron to lunch, helping him to get oriented. Quickly, he stopped feeling sorry for himself. He made up his mind to rebuild his life, and everything turned around.

Today, Ron doesn’t get lost, he has freedom. He no longer questions and prays every day to get stronger. He’s learning Microsoft Office Systems, and plans to go back to mentoring, perhaps working with the blind in rehabilitation. Ron has chosen to be something better, something bigger than he was.

“I love it here. I am at the right place at the right time,” says Ron. “I embrace the future.”