Former Mountain View County resident Lowell Taylor is a contestant on Season 4 of the Amazing Race Canada with his wife Julie.
The husband-and-wife team has had a bit of a disadvantage over others because Lowell suffers from retinitis pigmentosa (a degenerative eye disease) and has no peripheral vision.
But he said his disability is what made him want to participate in the race.
“People can do more than they think they can,” said Lowell, adding he hopes to inspire other people with disabilities.
“I like to live outside of my comfort zone and push the boundaries, and travel and see the world and do all the amazing things that the Amazing Race Canada has contestants do.”
The 34-year-old has suffered from retinitis pigmentosa since he was a child and says it gets worse as he gets older, so he figured now was the time to apply for the race.
“At this stage I have around 15 degrees of central vision, so an example would be if I look at somebody in a conversation, while I'm talking to them I can see their eye but at the same time I can't see their mouth. I have to then move my gaze to their mouth to watch what they're saying,” he said, adding he can't see anything in low light.
“It's like looking through a paper towel roll and just seeing a small part of the world.”
Julie said they are used to things taking a little longer and were patient with each other during the race.
“We knew we would get things done, it's just we knew we wouldn't always be the fastest,” she said.
In the episodes that have aired to date, the two of them have been to Yellowknife, Jasper, Calgary and Vietnam to participate in a variety of challenges during the race.
They said one of the more difficult challenges was at the Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery in Calgary because Lowell wasn't able to see the fish.
“The vision was really hard and always trying to choose (individual) challenges that I could do as a visually impaired person,” he said.
Another difficult challenge was when Lowell had to climb monkey bars underneath the Jasper Sky Tram with a bungee cord attached to him.
“Lowell actually couldn't see the monkey bars but he felt his way to the second-last one. He made his way that far and then slipped with one hand, recovered and then tried for that last bar again and that's when he fell and enjoyed every second of his bungee,” said Julie.
Navigating has also been an issue, she said, noting they bought a digital magnifier for the race hoping it would help Lowell read maps, but it didn't.
“The navigating was really difficult because it was more on me to drive and navigate, which is tricky, and I'm a little bit directionally and geographically challenged,” she said.
“Julie worked harder than anybody else on the race because she had to navigate for two and be the eyes for two and take all of that on,” added Lowell.
Julie, 33, said the most rewarding aspect of the race was watching Lowell experience it.
“Lowell is a very positive guy and his positivity outshines his disability, and we think that a negative attitude can be more debilitating than a disability,” she said.
“His vision is decreasing so we thought this would be a good opportunity.”
They have been watching the show since it first aired in Canada and they made their first application video in November.
They said it was hard to be away from their four-year-old son Fraser and three-year-old son Stefan for the duration of the race.
“The race is so much harder than it looks,” said Lowell.
“We knew that any challenge at any point could have taken us out of the race,” added Julie.
She noted they weren't given any special treatment because of Lowell's condition.
Lowell grew up in Mountain View County on a farm west of Carstairs. His parents Judy and Brian Taylor still live on the farm and say they are proud of his dedication in the race.
Lowell moved to Lethbridge after graduating from high school to attend university, which is where he met Julie. He works as a psychologist and Julie is a speech language pathologist.
Lowell is also a Para-athlete and participates in triathlons and road and track cycling. He said he has a goal to make it to the Paralympic games in Tokyo in 2020 racing on a tandem bike.
He said they have received a lot of support from people rooting for them on the Amazing Race and have even reconnected with people from their past.
The Amazing Race Canada – a series where teams compete in various challenges across Canada and elsewhere – airs Tuesday nights on CTV.
"People can do more than they think they can."Lowell Taylor,Amazing Race Canada contestant
