Blind man says he was kicked out of the gym for staring at a woman
A blind man was bizarrely asked to leave a gym after being accused of checking a woman out.
Footballer and content creator Toby Addison was born sighted; however, when he reached the age of 11, he lost 80 per cent of his vision.
Now, at 21, Addison has four per cent of his vision.
While appearing on the Happy Hour podcast, the 21-year-old recalled how he had the most awkward encounter when he was 17.
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The content creator revealed how he was accused of being a creep at a gym and being kicked out by staff.
“So I was just staring straight ahead and unfortunately there was a woman doing some exercises. I don’t know what she was doing, whether it was some squats or whatever, where you may be in a more vulnerable position maybe and don’t want to be stared at,” began.
The woman proceeded to approach Addison and accused him of perving on her.
“She came over to me, and I didn't know she was talking to me at first because I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just doing my thing,” he said.
“She said something along the lines of ‘Why do you keep staring at me? Stop. Don’t be so creepy,'" he continued.
However, Addison quickly apologised to the woman for the misunderstanding, explaining that he was blind while pointing to his cane.
“I was like ‘Oh no sorry, I’m blind’. I had my cane with me, it was folded up in my lap but she wasn’t having any of it,” he said.
Addison added that there’s now a culture of creeping at the gym, as some have been caught recording others during their workout.
He said that maybe the woman thought his cane was part of a ‘prop’ used so he could perv on women and use his blindness as a scapegoat.
Ultimately, the woman didn’t believe him, and he was kicked out of the gym by staff.
He noted that the incident really ‘knocked his confidence’, but now he has learnt how to speak up for himself.
Addison has since amassed a large following on TikTok, posting regularly with his 255,000 followers while raising awareness about the struggles and discrimination blind people face daily.
Charisa Bossinakis