Flyers thrill blind kids

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To: <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:41:48 -0400

Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, USA
Saturday, October 13, 2007

By CHUCK GORMLEY, Courier-Post Staff

Caption: Isabelle Nutt, 3, gets help with her skating from Flyers goalie Martin
Biron and Bud Ralston of Sewell at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Friday.
Isabelle has been blind since birth. AL SCHELL/Courier-Post

Caption: Flyer Scott Hartnell helps Breanna Allen, 5, of Philadelphia, navigate
the ice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Friday. AL SCHELL/Courier-Post

VOORHEES - When Blackwood's Sue Nutt received a permission slip from the
Overbrook School for the Blind asking if her 3-year-old daughter, Isabelle,
could skate with the Philadelphia Flyers, she had obvious reservations.

"I thought, "How is that going to work?' " Nutt said Friday, moments before
letting her daughter "skate" around the ice with Flyers goaltender Martin Biron
at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone. "This is the first time she's ever been
on skates, but it's very exciting. Overwhelming, actually."

Born with Leber's congenital amaurosis, a rare hereditary disorder that leads
to retinal dysfunction in infants, Isabelle Nutt has been blind since birth.

On Friday she wore a pair of figure skates, but instead of skating, Isabelle
sat on a metal folding chair and was pushed around the ice by Biron, a 6-foot-3
goaltender who will be in net tonight when the Flyers play their home opener
against the New York Islanders at the Wachovia Center.

Biron, who spent eight seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before getting traded to
the Flyers in February, said he has worked with mentally and physically
disabled children before, but had never skated with visually impaired children.

"It was a unique experience," he said. "It didn't take long for Isabelle to get
the idea of what it feels like to skate. She felt the snow on the ice and moved
her feet back and forth like she was skating. As much as I tried to help her
understand, she made her own image in her head and that was impressive."

Biron, who has a 2-year-old daughter, a 1-year-old son and another child on the
way, said within 20 minutes he and Isabelle had formed a relationship.

"It went from a little girl not wanting to go with me to the two of us sitting
on chairs singing Wheels On the Bus. I've got kids at home, too.

"To be able to work with kids and get enjoyment out of them is very rewarding."

Flyers coach John Stevens said he was equally impressed with the visually
impaired skaters he saw Friday.

Stevens, 41, had his playing career ended when he was struck in the left eye by
a hockey puck. He still has limited vision in that eye.

"When you talk about one of your senses being taken away, it's remarkable what
the (Overbrook) school does and what the people are able to do in life,"
Stevens said.

"They're having a lot tougher time than me. There are times I have trouble
hanging a picture on the wall. But I'm not compromised the way these people are
and they deserve a lot more credit than I do."

Biron said skating with Isabelle on Friday helped put in perspective the
importance of being a hockey player and the significance of tonight's home
opener.

"When you skate with kids like this you get the feeling there is so much more
to life than just the game," Biron said. "Being part of the community and the
people here is an important piece of the puzzle. We have such a stage to tell a
story and to help people and this is just another example."

Reach Chuck Gormley at cgormley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Flyers thrill blind kids

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