The Bay Area Panthers got their first win of the season against the San Diego Strike Force this afternoon, but there was a bigger meaning behind the game: disability awareness.

During the game, they spotlighted and celebrated people in the Bay Area living with disabilities, including 18-year-old Audrey Rose Walker.

"I was really excited, like I couldn't stop talking about it," said Walker when she found out she would be singing the national anthem.

Walker was born with a severe heart condition and Bilateral Anophthalmia, the absence of eyeballs.

Doctors told her parents she may not be born alive, if she was her life expectancy would only be a few years, but after several life-saving surgeries, she's here, able to take center stage.

"If someone like me who's blind, who has a heart condition can do it then anyone can do it," Walker said.

Walker has a special connection to football, she discovered her ability to sing when she was at a fundraiser with former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

She was just 7 years old and they asked her to sing, just for fun.

"That's when I figured out, 'Wow, I could sing,' everyone was like 'We didn't know'," she said, remembering the experience.

She had no training, just a finely tuned ear. She then went on to sing the National Anthem when she was just 9 years old before a 49ers game.

Her dad, Jim, says seeing her success makes him emotional.

"Well, I cry every time," Jim said.

He says when she was diagnosed, he questioned what her life would be like.

"It's something that's on my mind a lot," Jim said. "What is she going to do? 70% of blind people never work. So what was my little baby going to be able to do?"

Now between her singing and her second dream of becoming a Spanish language teacher, she has a path and purpose.

"I'm relieved that she has at least two options that she can turn to make a living and be a positive and constructive member of society," said Jim Walker.

She's 18 years old and will graduate high school and then attend West Valley Community College in the fall, it's one of many accomplishments she's excited about, as well as this opportunity to sing the national anthem before the Bay Area Panthers game.

After her performance was over, she could tell she had made an influence on the crowd.

"Being blind you have to compensate for your other senses, so I pay attention a lot to feel," Audrey Walker said. "I could hear everyone cheering and saying 'good job' and when people come up and want to congratulate me. I really like when I can make people happy and share my voice with others."  

Showing people you can make a difference without sight.