Blind woman inspires others walking in Seattle women’s march

By: Casey McNerthney

An estimated 150,000 people joined the Women’s March on Seattle on Saturday. They met at Judkins Park in the Central District and walked the roughly three miles to Seattle Center in the largest gathering on Seattle streets since the Super Bowl victory parade.

Photos from the march in Seattle

Among the thousands was a small woman walking arm in arm with a younger man. She was blind and also battles Parkinson’s disease.

“She nearly brought me to tears,” said marcher Veronica Villarreal, who walked near the woman and posted a photo to her Facebook page. “She was so inspiring.”

When Villarreal and her partner, Melissa Irish, saw the woman she was walking uphill near 14th Avenue South and South Jackson Street, headed to the start of the march.

The woman brought several other marchers to tears. Villareal and others didn’t ask the woman’s name, but they were struck by the sign she carried along the route.

“I won’t follow blindly,” the sign said.

Blind woman inspires others walking in Seattle women’s march: https://t.co/n0d0TCzlRu (Photo shared by Melissa Irish) pic.twitter.com/FnQZQj3JCZ

— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) January 22, 2017

If she can protest, “so should all of us who don’t believe in our heartless president,” Villareal said. Irish snapped the camera-phone photo.

They saw other inspiring moments, too.

There was the woman who appeared to have cerebral palsy on Fourth Avenue near Union Street, covering the route with a walker. Earlier on the route, Villareal saw a woman without legs pushed in a wheelchair by a friend.

“There were all kinds of people,” she said. “Young men, dads …”

Seattle’s Mayor Ed Murray and City Attorney Pete Holmes marched the route. Governor Jay Inslee was there, too.

The day wasn’t so much about our new President, they said. The march was about university, about diversity, Murray said. About being welcoming to all kinds of people.

“After the election I just felt defeated,” Villareal said. “But now I feel energized, like we can make a difference.”