Blind Columbus man set world speed record. Now he needs help with costly health equipment

Jeremy Chisenhall

A world-record setting Columbus race car driver is seeking the public’s help for costly medical equipment.

Dan Parker, who is blind, set the Guinness World Record for “Fastest Speed for a Car Driven Blindfolded” in 2022. He set the record a decade after he was blinded in a violent crash, hitting a wall at 175 miles per hour in 2012. The collision broke his car in half, and severely hurt him physically and mentally. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, and in a GoFundMe posted earlier this month, said he’s still suffering from neuro fatigue, anxiety, depression and fogginess.

Because of those issues, Parker hopes the community can help him raise $25,000 for hyperbaric oxygen therapy equipment. He said in his GoFundMe that this type of therapy helps him combat his ailments, but there are no hyperbaric centers near him.

“So, Dan needs your help! Please consider donating to allow him to purchase his own hyperbaric chamber and do daily sessions at home,” his GoFundMe says.

On Feb. 23, 2020 at the Spaceport in New Mexico, Columbus resident Dan Parker, 49, set the American speed record for a blind person at 153 mph over 1½ miles — and he kept the car within 5 feet of the center line the whole way despite a 22-mph side wind.
On Feb. 23, 2020 at the Spaceport in New Mexico, Columbus resident Dan Parker, 49, set the American speed record for a blind person at 153 mph over 1½ miles — and he kept the car within 5 feet of the center line the whole way despite a 22-mph side wind.

In the 20-plus years since Parker went blind, he has repeatedly reached major milestones as an impaired motorsport competitor. In addition to his record-setting speed — which was 211 miles per hour in a car he helped design and build — he was the first blind person to race a motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Parker’s story has been featured on CBS Evening News and “Jay Leno’s Garage” set up the recording of his record-setting drive.

Parker’s fundraiser, which was shared online Aug. 9, has a goal of $25,000. As of Tuesday, he had raised just under $4,000 from 28 donors.

Advertisement