- April 18, 2024
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For most, the year 2020 will forever represent a global pandemic. But for Ormond Beach resident Kevin Lowe, 2020 was a year synonymous with vision.
In October of 2020, Lowe marked the 17th anniversary of the year he lost his sight. Like many, he had big plans for 2020. He was going to take a cruise with a large group of friends and family to "redefine vision."
But while things did not go according to plan, 2020 did mark a new beginning for Lowe: the start of his own podcast.
In May of 2020, Lowe launched "The Lowe Down with Kevin Lowe," a podcast he hoped would serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for others by featuring people who overcame challenges in their lives and went on to be successful.
Since then, Lowe has released over 40 episodes and added a blog to accompany his podcast. What sets him apart in the industry is the one thing he hoped to one day find a cure for — his blindness. What is cool about podcasting, he said, is that it allows people to see the world and others the same way he does.
“I have no idea what they look like — who they are in a sense, so it’s like meeting them for the first time and getting to know them for who they actually are versus what my brain may form an opinion about," Lowe said.
Lowe was 17 years old when doctors discovered he had a brain tumor in the crosshairs of his optic nerve. It was pressing against his carotid artery and had doctors not found it then, Lowe was told he would have had, at most, six months to live.
“It was big," Lowe said. "They compared it to the size of a plum.”
The news had come at a time when Lowe said his life was really good. He was in his junior year at Seabreeze High School, had a great group of friends, and loved his raised Ford F-150 with all his heart. He and his friends used to go mudding in the field where the AdventHealth Daytona Beach hospital is now located.
But throughout his life, he had always had medical issues. The tumor, which Lowe in line with his sense of humor named Bob, was the root cause.
Everything was supposed to be fine after the tumor was removed, Lowe recalls. He was told he would be out of school for three weeks, and he and his family even threw a going away party for Bob.
“It’s one of those things where everything is alright until it’s not," Lowe said.
He doesn't remember his time in the hospital after the surgery, but his family told him that it became apparent a couple days after the surgery that Lowe couldn't see anything.
"At that point, as I like to explain it, I feel like my life died on that operating room table and a new person came out," Lowe said. "I say that because everything I ever loved, everything I dreamed of for the future, was literally taken from me. Except for two things, and that was my faith and my family.”
They are the only reasons he battled through those hard days, he said.
“My family is why I kept fighting and my faith is how I did it," Lowe said.
One of Lowe's first goals after losing his vision was to graduate with his class at Seabreeze High School. For the remainder of his junior year, he began learning what he needed to in order to navigate his new life. He learned braille and how to walk using a cane.
He did make it back to Seabreeze at the start of his senior year for one class each morning. That was enough to allow him to be part of his class and when it came time, he walked across the stage with his classmates.
“I think looking back at it now I can see where that was probably the first critical step in showing me, and at the time I didn’t even realize it, that I could still accomplish things even with what happened to me," Lowe said.
He learned to hate the word "accept," as he would often hear it from others regarding his loss of vision. In his mind, his blindness was temporary. It was "living a life of buying time until I got to see again," he described it.
But at some point, something changed and Lowe decided to stop waiting and just live.
“I still have faith that one day I’ll see again," Lowe said. "At this point, I’ve come to realize most likely it won’t be until I’m in heaven. Until that day happens though, I’m going to live out this life to the best that I can possibly do.”
Lowe is a believer that everything happens for a reason. He is sure that his first 17 years of life — where he flitted from interest to the next, traveled with his family to destinations like Alaska which some never get to see in their lifetime — were all in preparation for what was to come.
Now, he believes he's meant to share his story, and other people's stories, through his podcast, which was born out of his travel agency, Better Days Travel. He opened that in 2013.
The podcast has since evolved beyond his travel agency, and was recently featured in podcastguests.com. Within 24 hours of that happening, Lowe received over 100 responses.
“I think everybody has a story inside them, and even though a lot of people think they don’t and think that their life is boring, it’s totally not true," Lowe said.
