John Playfair from Haddington is an avid motor sportsman, has recently lost his sight to such an extent that he can no longer legally drive. It affects him every day, not least as he walks past his Lamborghini-motored high performance Audi – parked.
But, with great thanks to the brave souls at Knockhill, he’ll be behind the driving wheel for a lap in their rally circuit car—blindfolded to drive a lap of the race track next week. John has created a JustGiving page can be found at www.justgiving.com/BlindLap where people can donate via here, and can estimate the lap times in their comments as they donate.
It’s not the first time he’s given it a go. The last attempt was in a go-kart at the Raceland Karting track at Gladsmuir. Now, it’s your chance to take a blind leap: Guess his combined lap times in the comments with your donation, the closest times will win not just the ultimate bragging rights, but also some great prizes, including passes and hospitality to the World of Super Cars at Knockhill on Sunday August 12.
John has partial sight, so to block out any assistance he will wear a blindfold at Knockhill, as he already did at Gladsmuir. He’ll be assisted by daughter Sarah, who will take the passenger and guiding seat in the circuit car. John had daughter Linda driving the go-kart behind him at Raceland – quite literally keeping him straight: “The corners were fine, it was the straights – you didn’t know if you were going straight. Linda had to come and push me back on again.”
John has raced as a Special Stage Rally Driver in Scotland, until he retired to support his daughters’ motorsport careers. Both Linda and Sarah raced in the UK and Europe, Linda in karts and Sarah in single seaters (Formula Ford) in the mid 2000s.
John has a rare genetic eye disorder, Late Onset Retinal Degeneration (LORD, also known as Late Onset Retinal Macular Degeneration) for which there is currently no cure/prevention to the progressive loss of sight, then blindness. “Age doesn’t guarantee it, my mother stopped driving when she was 50, I could keep going to 60,” John says.
Donations will raise funds for Edinburgh University to carry out medical research for this condition, which has a 50/50 chance of being inherited but affects John and all his siblings.
The University of Edinburgh is a registered charity whose impact and reach extends far beyond the education of the student body. With expertise in medicine, the sciences and humanities, and centres investigating everything from major brain disorders to inclusion and diversity; the University can be an effective and powerful force for advancement and change with a truly global reach. Like all charities we rely on donations and are extremely grateful to our fundraisers who have baked, cycled, hiked, swam, climbed & more to help our vital work.