麻豆社

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White meets Cyrus Habib, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise through the political ranks to become the first blind Lieutenant Governor of Washington State.

His latest post has made it necessary to equip the Senate with the latest technology, allowing him to preside over hearings using braille prompts. He describes how it works and tells Peter White how he can seamlessly recognise and call lawmakers as debates gather pace. His own mother helped him grow up believing that anything was possible and he feels that the development of technology is helping make that a reality for him and other disabled people.

Cyrus lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight and says that although it has presented challenges, it has done nothing to dent his political ambition. His first election campaign actually built a strategy around his journey: from Braille to Yale! He is a democrat and is being tipped as a possible leadership contender by the American press, but for the moment he's enjoying the challenges of presiding over the chamber.

His parents were Iranian immigrants and Cyrus has played a leading role in protests against President Trump's executive order barring new refugees and limiting immigration from some Muslim majority countries. If the order had been in place he says that his own family would have been denied entry: "I care about those who are affected by this like they're my own family. Nobody loves this country like the people who leave everything behind to earn their place in it.".