After losing his sight at just 12 years old, Corbin native Travis Freeman went on to become America’s first blind football player, a story he shared with the Corbin Rotary Club on March 12 when promoting his Lights Out Dinner in the Dark event scheduled for early May.
“Disability does not equal inability” is an important quote that Freeman lives by.
Freeman was born and raised in Corbin and lost his sight at the age of 12 due to a severe sinus infection.
“I had what was called cavernous sinus thrombosis,” said Freeman. “That is a sinus infection that reaches the most deadly state that a sinus infection can reach. The doctors told us that it killed, at the time, 70 percent of the people who had it. I was only the second case in the world where it’s ever just affected the eyes.”
Freeman spent 17 days at the University of Kentucky hospital and spent the next year adapting to the loss of sight.
“By the end of my seventh-grade year of school, I had been very successful at reassimilating myself into a normal flow of life,” said Freeman. “There was still one other thing that was missing and that was football.”
Freeman played football in his fifth and sixth-grade years and wanted to be part of the team again. His parents talked to his coach. They expected him to just be part of the exercise and team bonding and not actually play.
“He looked at my mom and said no,” said Freeman. “He said, ‘If Travis Freeman does anything for this team, he’s gonna play.’”
In August of 1990, Freeman stepped onto the field prepared to play. He was officially considered America’s first-ever blind football player. Freeman played that year and played throughout high school.
Freeman began to attract media attention during his senior year of high school.
“I was featured on the NBC Today show, as well as Dateline NBC. I had an Associated Press article published across the country. I was in the New York Times, the USA Today,” said Freeman. “The story about a blind football player in Corbin, Kentucky, had become a national story.”
Several years later, Freeman received a call from Toni Hoover, who announced he wanted to write a screenplay loosely inspired by his life. The movie 23 Blast was released on 600 screens nationwide. Freeman published an autobiography titled Lights Out: Living in a Sightless World soon after.
“When I saw the movie for the first time, I thought they did a great job at capturing the spirit of my story,” said Freeman. “I quickly came to understand what that little phrase ‘loosely inspired by’ actually means. We wanted to get the complete true story out there, and so that’s what’s in my autobiography.”
Freeman created the nonprofit organization called The Freeman Foundation. It exists to raise awareness of the needs and potential of people with disabilities and to promote the truth that disability does not equal inability, according to Freeman.
“God has given me this platform and this opportunity,” said Freeman. “I wanted to make a difference in the world.”
Freeman noted the foundation has raised significant funds over the years and has maintained a presence in Haiti. He explained that Haiti is the fourth poorest country in the world and the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
“We were helping support two orphanages there that cared for children with disabilities,” said Freeman. “We were able to go in and help provide meals for them at times.”
One example of this is an eight-year-old boy from Haiti, who weighed only 40 pounds and was found malnourished and underdeveloped, now has a chance at life thanks to The Freeman Foundation. After seeing a doctor, it was discovered that he had developed a form of pediatric cataracts caused by malnutrition. He received surgery and new glasses, enabling him to begin attending school.
The Freeman Foundation is partnering with Baptist Health Corbin to bring back the Lights Out Dinner in the Dark event, a blindfolded dining experience to benefit Autism Awareness. When you arrive, you will receive a blindfold, the lights will be mostly out, and a host will guide you to your table. David’s Steakhouse will be catering the event.
The event is planned for 6 p.m. on May 5 at the Corbin Center. Guest speakers are Cameron Mills, a former UK basketball player, and his wife, Susan Mills, author and creator of My Autism Tribe, who will discuss their story as parents of a child with autism.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for children (8 and under). A table sponsorship costs $150 and includes six tickets as well as recognition on social media for sponsors. All proceeds will benefit the Eastside Club Sensory Gym, Erin’s Hope for Friends, and The Freeman Foundation.
The Freeman Foundation is also working with the City of Corbin to update playground equipment and make it more accessible for children with disabilities.
You can register online at https://Dinnerinthedark2026.eventbrite.com.
