If you were told you’d be losing your full eye-sight in a short period of time, what would you do? Would you spend your time worrying about how you’ll do simple things, maybe spend time quietly with family whose faces you will no longer see eventually?
Well this New York woman was given that diagnosis, and instead of letting eventual blindness, she is doing the complete opposite. She is traveling the nation marking off an adventurous bucket list, meeting with celebrities and documenting it all on her YouTube channel.
In her YouTube series titled The Off Beat, every month Lachi, who brands herself as “going blind and staying fabulous” hangs out and interviews politicians and influencers and does exciting things like learn to DJ on a rooftop. However, in her September episode Lachi goes bigger, doing something people who have no disabilities wouldn’t even do. She jumped out of a plane in the sky.
At Piedmont Skydiving in North Carolina, Lachi was trained by staff and put into gear with all cameras rolling. They prepare for what is called a tandem skydive which is when an instructor is strapped to a diver for their first jump. Lachi and the instructor get on to the plane which ascends up to 14,000 feet, and of course the video ends with the two jumping out of the plane at over 140 mph. The footage they are able to capture in the sky as they are diving is the highlight of the video.
A Youtuber commenter asks “Is she really blind?” Lachi is legally blind. Based in New York City, Lachi is now an award winning creator, singer who works on the Grammys committee, and host who has worked with PBS, model and influencer was not always a disability activist, but became one after she began rapidly having vision loss that could not be cured, from a disease called Coloboma.
To encourage other artists with a disability to live full lives, Lachi founded Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (Rampd.org) which advocates for blind, deaf and disabled people in the music industry.
With 3-5% of the population being blind and a much higher rate being some form of visually impiared, Lachi’s story of overcoming fear, taking life by the horns while continuing to create music and video content is an inspiration to many. She is definitely one to watch, not only to see what new song, TV show or concert she’ll be a part of, but to see what exhilarating stunt she will perform next.
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