Veteran to Homeless to Blindness to Powerlifter

Blind veteran power lifts to world games
Courier-Post
Carly Q. Romalino
April 16, 2015

"I've been blind for 25 years. Just in the last 12 years or so I've come to understand what blindness is as far as being able to navigate and accept it," said King, a post-Vietnam war veteran honorably discharged from the Army for health reasons.

Powerlifter Charles King, a blind and formerly homeless veteran, works out at the Carousel House in Philadelphia as GW Stilwell, a Logan Township man and VA Hospital employee who helped King get back on his feet, looks on. King is trying to fundraise his way to the International Blind Sports Association's World Games in South Korea in May. (Photo: JOHN ZIOMEK/COURIER-POST)

PHILADELPHIA – As Charles King adds weight to the bench press bar, it's easy to forget the Philadelphia man is blind. He lifts the 250-pound bar over his head, then holds a perfect squat position.

He moves through the Fairmount Park Carriage House's gym, avoiding collisions with machines, chairs and stacks of weights. At 5-foot-9 and 208 pounds, King seems invincible.

After everything the formerly homeless veteran has endured in 20 years, he just might be. He may be on track to compete in the International Blind Sports Association's World Games in South Korea next month, but he'll still tell you he's a "dead man."

He lived on the streets, lost his daughter in 2000 and battles addiction, prostate cancer, arthritis and diabetes. "Everybody has to be passionate about something in life to keep them going," said Logan Township resident GW Stilwell, coordinator of the blind rehabilitation staff at Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

It took 64 years and lots of support from Stilwell and the VA, but King finally found his passion — power lifting.
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