Prepare to have your mind blown by the blind skateboarder Dan Mancina!
Relearning How To Skate After Going Blind With Dan Mancina | SKATE TALES Ep 3 – Red Bull
Welcome indeed to Skate Tales, Madars Apse’s new series journeying through skateboarding’s wilder shores.Int his episode Madars meets up with fellow skateboarder Dan Mancina in Detroit, Michigan, to hear his journey of relearning how to skateboard after slowly losing his sight.
DAN MANCINA : THUNDER TRUCKS
“Skating with Dan is unreal. Beyond the obvious fact that he can’t see the spot, his dedication to get tricks no matter how easy or hard they come is truly something else. He just never gives up even when it gets too dark to film; he will just keep going until he gets it. Always a pleasure having him in the van with the crew! “ – Nate Alton, Thunder Team Manager.
Dan Mancina and the REAL Team skate El Sereno Park
Dan Mancina and the Real team spent the day at El Sereno Skatepark in LA to roll with the locals. A few brave skaters threw on blindfolds to get a glimpse into what skateboarding is like for Dan.
Dan Mancina at the Compound Skatepark in Calgary
On an extremely cold Friday in February, Dan Mancina brought his love of skateboarding to Calgary, Alberta, Canada and helped change the lives of fifteen visually impaired youth. In partnership with non-profit organization Academy Skateboard Collective, Dan shared his story and introduced skateboarding to the youth, their parents and school staff. Dan’s story of resilience not only resonated deeply with the group of students but its impact on their caregivers was equally visceral. As the students familiarized themselves with their skateboards and the skatepark, they approached standing on the boards, rolling, pushing and pumping the transitions with an uninhibited confidence. In a short amount of time, students comfortably explored the physical landscape in a way they had never before: through the lens of skateboarding. The impact Dan has left on our community will not be soon forgotten. He gave us all one residing message; anything is possible. The experience reminded us that we are not defined by perceived barriers but that we can find meaning in our ability to adapt in the face of them. Isn’t that what skateboarding is truly about? Thank you Dan Mancina, Real Skateboards, Adidas, Ninetimes Skate Shop, the Compound Skatepark and everyone else that made this event possible.
Sincerely, Everett Tetz Founder and Director of Academy Skateboard Collective
Actions REALized : Dan Mancina
Dan Mancina is no different than any skateboarder – he loves every second of it and doesn’t let anything get in his way. While losing his eyesight at the age of 23 due to a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa cast a spotlight on him in the skateboard community, he was already a strong part of it. After the first time he skated with the Real Team he was instantly a part of the crew. With Dan’s help we worked on a special Actions REALized board designed specifically for the visually impaired.
Learn more about Dan’s story on https://www.actionsrealized.com.
Nine Club EXPERIENCE #41 – Louie Lopez Off Flip, Boys Of Summer #2, Dan Mancina, Gronze Island
We discuss Cookie’s “WAR and PEACE”, Nike SB Crust Belt Tour, Gronze Island – Episode 3 Sao Miguel, Primitive “Testing”, Boys Of Summer #2, Deedz’s “Mustache Rides” Part, Cory Juneau suspended for THC, Louie Lopez Leaves Flip, Dan Mancina’s “TCB” Part, American Media acquires TEN (The Enthusiast Network – AKA transworld) and much more!
The skater who lost his vision, but not his passion. | Out of Frame w/ Dan Mancina
Prepare to be amazed, as we meet up with a skater who lost his vision, but never his passion.
Imagine that one day, at a young age, you’re told that something was wrong with your vision. Like a race against time, each day your vision deteriorates a little bit more until one day you wake up and, like that, your sight is gone. That’s exactly what happened to Dan Mancina, a skateboarder from Livonia, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.
How does someone skate when they’re blind? Simply put, at first, Mancina didn’t.
Grappling with the anxiety, fear and depression that accompanied his loss of vision, Mancina set aside his board, thinking that skating was part of his former life. He moved forward, doing everything he thought he should be doing as a blind person, but still felt a huge void.
That all changed one day when Mancina decided to film some random video clips of him doing things that he thought other people would assume blind people couldn’t do. One of those clips being of him skateboarding.
He posted the clip, it went viral, and he hasn’t put his board down since.