Cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness are more obstacles than any one person should have to face, but George Krams has not let disability define him.
The 79-year-old resident of Alino Living's Rumbalara House managed to attain an education, enjoy a rewarding career, make lifelong friendships and even broke a Guinness World Record. He recently shared his life story with fellow residents during a presentation at the Central Coast Aged Care facility.
George was born on May 4, 1944 at the Royal Women's Hospital in Paddington.
His parents, who were both religious people, refused to believe he would go through his entire life blind, and when he was little more than six months old, doctors declared he could see.
George started his studies at the very young age of three at the Spastic Centre in Mosman - he was the first deaf child to enroll. After several years he was transferred to St Gabriel's School for the Deaf at Castle Hill.
When George was in his 20s, he decided to follow his childhood dream of becoming a priest, however he was refused entry into the priesthood on several occasions.
He continued to work in the Catholic Church in other capacities, such as volunteering with the Catholic Deaf Association, serving as treasurer for 12 years and vice president for two years.
In terms of employment, George worked as a factory hand for a few years, before gaining employment as a public servant in the police department, where he worked for 23 years, receiving a presentation from the NSW Police Commissioner on his retirement.
In 1982, he set a Guinness World Record for maintaining sign language at or above 45 words per minute for 35 hours and five minutes, a record that still stands.
When it comes to mates, there are none who Gorge considers closer than Reg South.
The lifelong friends met in the mid-to-late-1940s when they were both very young and living on the same Randwick Street.
Decades later, in 1973, Reg and his wife asked George to be the godfather of their second daughter, Deanne. He would go on to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day on February 3,1994.
