Blind Bowler’s Bike Was Stolen, Now Friends Are Rallying To Help

SARASOTA, FL — Dylan Weiss is such an avid bowler that even when his regular bowling companions were out of town last spring, he headed to the AMF Gulf Gate Lanes in Sarasota alone.

As the 25-year-old prepared to bowl that night, he sat down at one of the tables — right next to Terry Kenney.

“We got to talking and he was so nice and friendly, such an amazing guy,” Weiss told Patch. “After that, every time we went bowling, we’d see Terry, and get that big smile from him and a ‘hey buddy.’ We built a real connection at the bowling alley.”

He was even more amazed to learn that Kenney, who is in his sixties, is blind and has been for much of his life. When he was 15 years old, a brain tumor left him without 95 percent of his vision.

“When I learned about that, I thought he was a superhero that he’s able to get up and bowl,” Weiss said. “He’s such an inspiration. All we need to help him with is telling him which ball is his on the rack and after he shoots his shot, which pins are left up so he can hit the spare. He can really roll that ball.”

Kenney is known for his friendliness and willingness to do anything to put a smile on the face of others, Weiss and other friends say.

Because of this, when his new bike was stolen outside a Walmart a few weeks ago, they were quick to rally together and launch a fundraiser for their friend. Weiss set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a new bike, as well as other items that could enhance Kenney’s life, including visual aids.

“He usually locks (his bike) up. But because of his vision impairment, he didn’t realize he was locking it up to an open-ended pole, which is really sad,” his friend, Nancy Pantano, told Patch.

Zane Rich, who met Kenney through Weiss, said that because Kenney can’t see much, he mistakenly chained his bike to a 4-foot-high barricade.

“Whoever stole it was able to lift it up and take it,” he said.

Biking and bowling are two of Kenney’s greatest passions.

“His bicycle is kind of like his life. It's his way to get places,” Pantano said.

His friends aren’t sure how he’s able to bike with his vision impairments, but he does it anyway.

“He’s ridden into telephone poles. Trees jump out at him. Once he rode right over a chute from a cement mixer and he tumbled over it. He’s had accidents on his bicycle many times,” Pantano said. “Luckily, he always wears a helmet, but I feel like he needs some armor, too. He’s amazing. He gets on his bike, and he goes.”

And Kenney never lets these accidents stop him, she added. “He loves life too much to just sit home and feel sorry for himself.”

She met Kenney while part of a bowling league in Venice about five years ago. Since then, they’ve bowled together throughout the county, often three times a week.

Pantano calls Kenney's bowling an “amazing feat” to watch and still hasn’t fully figured out how he’s able to do it.

“I don’t know. He just feels it. He can’t see the pins, but he can see contrast, so he can see like the gutters,” she said. “He can throw a strike ball. Then, we tell him which pins he has left, and he gets them. He’s spot on. He’s amazing. You tell him what’s there, he moves his feet, and boom.”

And as much as Kenney loves these hobbies, he’s equally passionate about people, both friends and strangers.

“He’s a very, very sweet person. He’s a love bug; he really is,” Pantano said. “He loves people.”

Every day, he writes postcards and greeting cards that he sends to everyone he knows, even the friends that he sees at the bowling alley several times a week.

“He does it every single day, just because he knows it puts a smile on their face,” Weiss said. “He has these strong glasses, these strong magnifying glasses, and he bends down over the table and writes.”

Pantano added, “They’re all funny. They’re humorous cards. He writes really big and writes all over the envelope. Birthday cards, holiday cards, congratulation cards, ‘sorry things aren’t going so well for you right now but cheer up’ cards. And you know it’s a Terry card when you see it in the mailbox because it's written all over the envelope.”

Meanwhile, Rich has formed a unique connection with Kenney. At 17, the now 25-year-old was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that will eventually leave him blind.

“I’m sure you could imagine getting the news at 17 years old that you have a degenerative eye condition and you’re going blind with no cure is going to put any 17-year-old down a spiral of depression and anxiety,” he told Patch.

While he’s slowly come to terms with his diagnosis in recent years, meeting Kenney has given him hope for his own future.

“Seeing somebody that’s 60 years old, doing the things he wants to go out and do, and surrounding himself with loved ones and people who care about him is certainly inspiring,” Rich said. “I don’t think (my) hope was as strong when I first met Terry.”

Now, Kenney’s friends want to give back to the man who has given them so much without expecting anything in return.

Part of the reason they’re keeping the fundraiser a surprise is because Kenney often doesn’t want any help, Weiss said. “The thing about Terry is that he’s always been a caregiver, taking care of other people.”

As a young adult, his father, a local police officer, became a paraplegic after being shot. Much of his caretaking fell on Kenney, who was struggling with his vision impairments, which were still somewhat new to him at the time.

Later, his mother developed Alzheimer’s and Kenney cared for her in his family’s Venice home for about a decade, as well. When she died, he was forced to leave the home and landed at a Sarasota trailer park, Weiss said.

This was a blow for Kenney, who had many friends in Venice and knew the city streets well.

“He left behind all of his routes that he’s familiar with on his bicycle,” Pantano said.

They’re hoping this fundraiser might transform his life. Not only will the money raised be used to purchase a new bike and some visual aids to help him write his greeting cards and postcards, but Weiss thinks it could be the first step in helping him move back to Venice, the community that he loves so much.

His friends are also putting out feelers to find a new job for Kenney, who’s spent the last eight years bagging groceries for Publix.

“There’s something out there for him that’s even better than bagging groceries. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for him he just needs something more,” Pantano said. “He needs to do more with people, helping people somehow.”

Rich added, “He’s such a great guy that…we want to help him get a new bike, a better phone, and more of the equipment and tools he needs to maximize his vision potential. At the end of the day, we know anything we raise for him is going to be super helpful. And we just want to show him that people care about him.”

Learn more about the fundraiser for Kenney here.

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