Sensational Foundation x ESF bring blind Everest climber, Lonnie Bedwell to Hong Kong

At the end of May 2024, Sensational Foundation collaborated with ESF Island School's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and ESF Kowloon Junior School, to host Lonnie Bedwell, an inspirational and motivational speaker from the United States, for their students and families at each school.

Lonnie Bedwell is a blind adventure athlete who 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 continue 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 as a single parent, while blind, was an inspirational success story for our students and families - reminding to chase their dreams every single moment and persevere through hardships. It also gave the audience 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 from his 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 students and parents engaged, asking Lonnie questions about forgiveness and his adventures. Everyone also had an opportunity to take photos with Lonnie after the talk! 

Thank you to both of the ESF schools, students and families who joined us for Lonnie’s talk, and of course, to Lonnie for showing us that “anything is possible if we believe in ourselves”.