G’day, citizens of Ladysmith! I hope you had a good week? Can you believe we are in the first week of June? How time flies. Good luck to all the people doing the Comrades Marathon this weekend. I won’t be joining you, but I’ll root for you all the way. It doesn’t mean I will never do the Comrades. Who knows what will happen in the future? I might compete by riding on a quad bike or someone can push me in my wheelchair.
Robotic legs might be on the cards for me. If anyone had told me a year ago the Proteas would lose their opening two games at the Cricket World Cup or that Liverpool would win the UEFA Championship League, I would have laughed at the statement.
But if there is one thing life has taught me – it’s that you should never say never. In my life, there were obstacles placed in my way that I never thought I’d overcome; obstacles able-bodied people take for granted. In primary school, the prefects would go on a prefect camp.
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They always went to an adventure camp near Estcourt. When they came back, I heard all the stories of the physical activities they had performed. When I was elected as a prefect, it was our time to go. I prepared myself mentally that I would be limited to certain activities. The adventure camp was near Wagendrift Dam. You will see the dam on your right when you travel on the N3 towards Mooi River. We went on a tour of the dam and we saw how it worked. Afterwards, our guide took us to the dam wall.
We were going to abseil down the wall. He was demonstrating what to do. I didn’t pay much attention. I mean, why would I? I wasn’t going to do it, right? A few of my friends went down successfully. Then the guide asked if I wanted to go. I said ‘yes’. He had a special kit where my body was attached to his and down we went. I felt like James Bond on a secret mission. U2’s lyrics were running through my mind: “I have scaled these city walls”. It was a great adrenaline rush and is something I will always remember.
The next day at the camp, I ‘zipped’ a few metres on the zip-line, another thing I always thought impossible. A few months later, we heard the Government had stopped all abseiling activities at the dam. My group was the last to do it. It is a special feeling, knowing I was one of the last ones.
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