Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln Counties
Area News of Churches and Related Christian Fuvents
VOL. 1 NO. 5
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1992
REPUBLIC NEWSPAPERS
Amazing Bill’
Blind man walks for Christ
By JIM HEFFNER
It is inconceivable that a
blind man would walk the
2,144 mile Appalachian
Trail alone. But it hap-
pened.
Bill Irwin is his name,
and, even though he'd nev-
er been on the Appalachian
Trail in his life, in March of
1990 he set out from
Dahlonega, Georgia, and
finished his trek in Maine
eight months later.
Irwin wasn't completely
alone. He was accompanied
by his leader dog Orient,
who guided him and helped
carry supplies.
Bill Irwin is a blond,
handsome man with finely
chiseled features. He is ed-
ucated to the point of near-
brilliance, or so it seems.
Irwin can quote scripture
one minute then explain
chorioretinitis, the disease
which took his sight, the
next.
The eye disease attacked
him in 1968, and, even
though he had surgery to
try to retard the damage,
his eyesight was destroyed.
At the time, Irwin
worked for Roche Clinical
Biomedical Laboratories as
Director of Education for
the entire company.
Why would such an obvi-
ously intelligent man set
out on so dangerous a jour-
ney in the first place?
While visiting Kings
Mountain for a speaking
engagement last week, he
discussed his reasons.
"My sole purpose for the
hike was a Christian wit-
ness mission," said Irwin. "I
felt led by the Lord. I want-
ed to show people what he
could do for me and for
them."
Irwin says he converted
to Christianity on Sept. 30,
1988, after years of heavy
drinking.
"The day I finished high
school, I drank a fifth of
liquor. At the graduation
party, I took the trumpet
away from the trumpet
player and tried to play it
myself, that was probably
the beginning of my alcohol
problem," he said.
Irwin, born and reared in
Birmingham, Ala., went to
Samford University where
he excelled as a chemistry
and biology major.
"The alcohol didn't cause
me any problems in col-
lege," he said. "Periodically,
I'd have weekends when I
drank a lot, and I always
sought out the drinking
crowd, but I can't remem-
ber any specific problems
with alcohol in college."
The trouble came later,
after he was married and
his three children were
grown.
“All my activities, at that
time, were centered around
working and drinking, con-
sequently, all three of my
children became alcoholics,
Bill Irwin and Orient relax following bible
study and breakfast at a local restaurant.
and some were into drug
use as well. I was feeling
pretty bad about that. It
was about then I got a
nudge from the Holy Spirit.
I had never had the desire
to quit drinking before and
the word surrender wasn't
in my vocabulary,” said
Irwin, "but God said sur-
render that alcohol, and
suddenly I could see all my
faults running by my eyes.
It was like a video tape
playing in my head."
Irwin contends that alco-
holism does more than just
hinder your health. "I in-
vested a lot of money in a
movie, and I don't know
anything about film-mak-
ing. I became a 'womanizer'
to the degree that the com-
pany had to send a body-
guard with me when I went
on speaking trips.
Naturally, the money went
down’ the drain. All those
things are the results of al-
coholism. Wasting money
and chasing women are
part of the affliction.”
See Amazing, Page 7