The world’s fastest blind man, from Bolton, has been honoured by the King in the New Year’s Honours List.
Mike Newman has been handed a British Empire Medal for services to people with disabilities, including visual impairments. Mike was born blind due to glaucoma.
However, he always had a passion for cars — and didn’t let his medical condition hold him back. That’s why he is a world record holder, and now helps other visually impaired people feel the need for speed through his charity, Speed Of Sight.
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Speed of Sight was started by Mike and partner John Galloway a decade ago. It hosts track days where people with any form of a disability can get behind the wheel of a dual-control car that has been specially designed and built.
“I was in shock when I received the call letting me know that someone had nominated me and that I had received this medal,” Mike said on receiving his award. “It’s such an honour and I’m incredibly humbled and grateful, but I wouldn’t be able to do any of this work without the staff and volunteers that help us at our Speed Of Sight track days that enable us to change people’s lives.
“While I always wanted this charity to succeed when I created it with my co-founder John, I’m stunned at just how successful it’s been over the 10 years we’ve been running, and how much joy it’s brought to so many lives. It’s not just the participants that are grinning at our track days because they’ve finally got the opportunity to drive a car, it’s the friends and family they bring with them, the companies that sponsor us and the volunteers, without whom we wouldn’t be able to do these track days.”
Mike’s journey to becoming a speed demon began just over 20 years ago, while he was working as a bank manager. He decided to fulfil a dream, and set the motorcycle speed record in 2001 at 89 mph on an Aprilia superbike.
This was just the beginning for Mike, as he went on to achieve the car land speed record in 2003 at 144 mph in a Jaguar XJR. He then set three more world records of 176 mph in 2005 in a BMW M5, 186 mph in 2013 in a Porsche GT2 and 200 mph in 2014 in a Nissan GTR, making Mike Newman the first blind man on earth to drive a car at 200 mph.
You can find out more about Speed Of Sight online.
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