BRITAIN'S PROUDEST BOY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21876, 11 August 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

BRITAIN'S PROUDEST BOY

TRIUMPH OVER BLINDNESS PROMOTION IN THE SCOUTS The proudest boy in Britain to-day is blind. He is eighteen-year-old Christopher Hendrick, of the King's Manor Scout Troop, Yorkshire. After six years' study and training he has become a King's Scout, a much coveted honour which few scouts ever attain. He is the first blind King's Scout. Behind the announcement of Christopher's promotion lies a story of endeavour. He can do hundreds of things adults with all their senses cannot do — which thousands of First Class Scouts strive to do without success. Here are a few things the boy can do: —

Transmit and receive messages in morse code and send in semaphore; estimate the distance, height, and weight of objects within twenty-five per cent of accuracy; deal efficiently with such emergencies as cases of drowning, fainting, ice-breaking, and electric shock; read an ordnance map (in Braille), use a compass and point out any direction at night time without its use; make any sort of basket and articles of wood; help air pilots when necessary by indicating the proper direction for landing; he knows by heart the compass direction of all principal towns and aerodromes within fifty miles of his town; render first aid to an injured person and do other expert ambulance work. Christopher, in addition, can recite, sing, act, and play the organ and piano; has an elementary knowledge of law; is a. qualified " public health man," able to advise in any health or sanitation problem in connection with farms or camps; swims expertly —any stroke; can cover a mile in twelve minutes; is able to make a fire in the open, never using more than two matches, and cook meals for a whole patrol. At the age of six Christopher fell down a flight of stairs at home. He lost his sight as a result of injuries. He never talks of his blindness.