Hein Wagner Vision

Although blind since birth, I learnt early on that the things deemed impossible by society are worth testing to determine their validity. From the moment I taught myself to ride a bicycle at the age of five, I understood that obstacles are simply unexplored opportunities.

I completed the Antarctica Marathon, full Ironman, Cape to Rio Yacht Race, hold the World Blind Land Speed Record at 322.52 km/h, scaled the 7 highest mountains of the Western Cape, rafted the white rivers of the Zambezi, received a golden key from the university of Stellenbosch for ongoing efforts towards social upliftment, skydived, bungeed, water-skied, rallied, walked, trekked, shot, scaled, run, jumped, swum, canoed and persevered across all terrains worldwide.

And yet at some point I realised that my achievements weren’t mine alone.

Over time, people from all walks – executives to children, panhandlers to politicians – became inspired and purposely sought out my story. (Since blind people are notoriously terrible at foresight, I could never have foreseen this and, looking back, my hindsight is equally terrible).

What I DO offer, however, are insights on perseverance, resilience, growth, progress, cooperation, and my personal vision which sees and inspires beyond the norm.

I am Hein Wagner: the blind man with vision | international keynote speaker | ultra-athlete | entrepreneur | philanthropist | father | husband | friend | mentor | ambassador for progressive global action on natural resources and accessibility