Disabled World Cup silver medalist paddles through her challenges

Disabled South African athlete Sandra Khumalo, a paralympian rower and World Cup silver medalist, will be speaking at the Emlanjeni Ladies Conference at the Midrand Training Centre on 28 October from 12.30pm.

Khumalo is also a motivational speaker and a member of Thusanang Enabling Support Services.

She is originally from Durban and lived a normal life until 2005 when she was involved in a tragic vehicle accident that changed the course of her life forever. She was paralysed from the waist down.

“After the accident, I was extremely depressed and often felt rejected because of my circumstances.”

“I went through a lot of therapy sessions and regardless of the fact that I knew I was paralysed, I made the decision to hold on to my faith and remain hopeful. It was hard for my family to come to terms with my reality, hence I found myself having to regularly comfort and encourage them that all is not lost,” said Khumalo.

The best decision she made was to accept her predicament and look at what else she could still do. This started her journey in sports because this was one of the things she had always been good at, even before her accident.

Her decision to become an athlete is yielding results. Recently, at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida she raced her first 2km in 12 minutes and 14 seconds, earning the fifth spot.

“I want to encourage all those living with a disability or [those who] need words of encouragement to attend the Emlanjeni Ladies Conference. I will be speaking on various topics and will teach women how to embrace change and challenges and also how to create opportunities in situations we have no control over.

“We can still build beautiful lives out of broken pieces,” Khumalo said.

Details: Emlanjeni Ladies Conference Facebook page or contact Zamamiya Mtshali on 071 231 7014.

What challenges does a person living with a disability face and how can they over them? Share on your Midrand Reporter Facebook page.