Rio de Janeiro - It might not be a stretch to say that Ntando Mahlangu knew how to run before he could walk. It took him just two weeks to start running after he had learnt how to walk. It took him less than four years and a fraction under 24 seconds to become a Paralympic medallist. At the Tokyo Paralympics he is set to be a champion.
On Sunday, after the 14-year old had finished second behind the 40-year old Richard Whitehead of Great Britain, thanked everyone who had helped him. He did not mention each by name. He did not have to. He has their names written on the prosthetics he raced in.
“I have a few names of people who helped me come to Rio on my legs and when I am running I just look at them,” said Mahlangu
Amongst those names would be the people from Jumping Kids South Africa, a charity that seeks to provide children with prosthetics. On Monday, another Jumping Kids ambassador, Tyrone Pillay, a single leg amputee, won bronze in the shot put. Mahlangu was fitted for his blades in September 2012. Last month, before he wowed the world by becoming the youngest South African to win a Paralympic medal on the track at the age of 14, Ntando Mahlangu introduced seven-year old Tshepo Rasebeka to his new legs.
Like Mahlangu, Rasebeka was born with a congenital defect and had a double amputation above the knee. Perhaps like Mahlangu, Rasebeka will also only take just two weeks to learn how to walk and then to run. Avis stumped up the R60 000 for Rasebeka’s legs after seeing how they had changed Mahlangu’s life. It seemed a small price to pay to see the happiness on Rasebeka’s face as he walked by himself for the first time.
“When we first met Ntando, he was in a wheelchair, overweight and in a special-needs school,” said Jumping Kids founder, Johan Snyders. “Providing him with prostheses, along with the necessary physiotherapy, opened up a whole new world. He now attends a mainstream school and is very popular with everybody who meets him. Access to the equipment is only the starting point for children like him.”
Mahlangu is still a child, but in 23.77 seconds at the Olympic Stadium, he became a symbol of what is possible, and a breaker of barriers between the able-bodied and the disabled.
“There is no such thing as disadvantaged or advantaged. I qualified and I came here. I am the one that wanted to be in the big boys’ game,” said Mahlangu. “My school is my priority because I want to be an engineer. When I go back I want to work hard because I missed exams so I have to catch up. It was the first time to be with the best athletes in the world. I'm going to take that and put it in my pocket. When I go back home I’m going to train harder and harder to win at the world championships next year (in London).”
Independent Media