Tampa Bay Fox Affiliate Shares Story Featuring Lighthouse Young Adult

5K Rugged Maniac Obstacle Course No Match for Vision-impaired Sarasota Teen

By Kimberly Kuizon | Sarasota Count | FOX 13 News | Oct. 1, 2021

SARASOTA, Fla. – Every day since birth, Levi Gobin has faced obstacles head-on. At 17 years old, proving people wrong has become an easy challenge for him to complete.

“I feel like a lot of people are like, ‘Well, oh, he’s blind. He can’t do this,’” he said. “If you don’t break barriers down, no one else is going to do it for you.”

On Saturday, he’ll face the Rugged Maniac, a 5K course with obstacles at every turn.

“I think that the three-story water slide sounds cool. I’m just hoping to God the water isn’t cold,” he said.

His mom, Shree Gobin will be right by his side.

“It’s just been fun because we know, at the end of the day, we aren’t competing in something to be elite or first place. We are competing for time together and to have fun,” she said.

They’ve been practicing together. Levi hopes others will realize being blind doesn’t change a thing. 

He’s also working to pay it forward, raising money to give back to the Lighthouse Vision Loss Education Center. It’s a non-profit that’s helped Levi with work and a career goal to work in the music industry.

“The Lighthouse has been just an amazing resource for me,” he said.

His mom agreed.

“We just really wanted to use any way we could to give back because we’ve received so much. Levi has received so much. They’ve been there every step of the day,” said Shree.

When Levi isn’t practicing to compete, he’s at Booker High School where he’s enrolled in the Visual and Performing Arts Program. He’s played the piano since he was 6 months old. 

He’s also a skilled drummer and ready to face any challenge head-on.

“I just want to make it obvious to people that blind people can do anything that sighted people can do,” he said.

To help Levi with his goal, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/levi-rugged-maniac-for-lighthouse