Disabilities swept aside in challenge of extreme sport

The "can-do" attitude that the Razzett tal-Hbiberija's Ability Challenge has set out to promote among society has turned into a personal reality for the persons with disability who attempted extreme sports in Mayrhofen, Austria, over the last week.

It seems to have been a life-changing experience for some of the participants, and the adrenaline was still rushing through their veins when they landed in Malta yesterday, happy, satisfied and ready to put their unveiled abilities to further tests. An overall success, without any accidents, or injuries, the second Ability Challenge was aimed at highlighing capabilities, rather than limitations, and that is exactly what it did!

"The activity proved the point," said Razzett business development manager Bradley Dingli. "If you focus on a person's abilities, their disabilities just diminish to the extent that they are not an issue anymore."

The activities that the 21-strong mixed-ability team tackled included canyoning, glacier trekking, paragliding, mountain biking, rafting and a high-rope course, but one of the major challenges was to prove to society that they could easily integrate.

The activity also serves to open up a new perspective on disability, showing the individual behind each mental or physical impairment and turning into a self-development experience for the able bodied, said Razzett's physical disabilities programme manager Lidwina Schembri Wismayer.

From wheelchair to rafting in rapids

John Xuereb, who has spina bifida and is confined to a wheelchair, managed to fulfill his lifelong dream to do rafting in rapids, as well as negotiate the hard terrain of a canyon, using his hands and the assistance of the mixed-ability team.

It may be impossible to contemplate completing a daunting high-rope course, but spina bifida did not get in the way, thanks also to the encouragement of the rest of the team and the courage of the individuals.

John's words to persons with disability are: "Try it!" In so doing, he discovered his own hidden talents. His proud mother, Maria, who was waiting for him at the airport, admitted she was nervous about her youngest son being away alone for the first time ever, but after his experience, she was planning to allow him more independence.

"I was weary about him failing to take his tablets and managing to bathe and clothe himself," she said, having taken care of him for 20 years.

"She is overprotective due to his condition," said his eldest brother Julian, adding that John has always managed to adapt and has been an inspiration to the family. Speaking on behalf of his other sportive siblings, he said that "in the end, John is the one who did something we always wanted to do!"

Find your abilities, says spina bifida sufferer

Noel Aquilina too suffers from spina bifida and walked out of the airport on crutches. But that did not stop him from overcoming his fear of heights either. He never thought he was able to play sports, let alone paraglide - at 2,000 metres above sea level - and feels the challenge has marked a turning point in his life.

"As I was going up the mountains on the cable car, I felt so jittery and engulfed in fear - more than when I was actually paragliding. But then I started to observe the unique landscape around me, and I forgot everything."

That same day, Noel had to face his fear again and did not think he could stomach it twice. But strong encouragement, support and a moral boost from the coordinators saw him undertake the second challenge and come out a winner.

From now on, he intends to do more sports, particularly swimming. He had only swum twice in his life before - at the Razzett to test his waterproof cast - but he was rafting and canyoning on the challenge and had "contact with the cold, deep water!"

"My message to persons with disability is that they need to find their abilities and build on them. Once they do that, their life will be like that of others; I would not say normal because normality does not exist for anyone!"

'I never give up'

Kevin Pace also has coordination and mobility problems following a car accident, which left him battling for life in the hospital's ITU for over a month. But that did not stop his experience on the Ability Challenge from being "amazing". He has always had a positive attitude towards life, so nothing has changed from that point of view.

"I never give up... and nobody should," he says, pointing at a painful burst blister on his hand that, however, did not stop him from completing the high-rope course.

Paragliding blind

Kurt Scicluna has been blind for nine years, but he wanted to reassure everyone interested in undertaking the Ability Challenge that it was 100 per cent safe, thanks to the programme coordinators, including Elaine Fenech and Ebi Muhammed Pour.

"Maybe, being blind, I cannot assess the extent of the danger," but what he could certainly gauge was the sensation of "freedom, emptiness, silence and peace from paragliding thousands of miles up in the air... I had always wanted to do it, even before I was blind... My mind was able to relax and expand".

Currently studying psychology at university, Mr Scicluna said the Ability Challenge was a "trial run for treading anxious pathways in the future".

Victim of a fall no longer afraid of heights

Josef Farrugia had a car accident, which saw him fall off the Regional Road bridge and end up with speech and mobility problems. But he has now overcome his fear of heights, he said, more emotional and excited about the fact that he saw and touched snow for the first time. That made him forget any fears!

Josef was told by his doctor that he could not do karate, or go to the gym and that he would have to stay in bed after the accident. Needless to say, he did not heed the advice...

His legs shook when he was paragliding, but the feeling after was "great".

"Before my accident, I was really shy, but the minute I joined Razzett, that finished and I am happy and confident," he blurts out.