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FEATURE: Mine victim hopes to inspire with medal

Powerlifter Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, who lost his right leg above the knee when he trod on a roadside landmine, rests during a training session at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Powerlifter Mohammad Fahim Rahimi is the only athlete representing Afghanistan at the Paralympics but the landmine victim is hoping to inspire the disabled in the war-torn nation by taking home a medal.

Rahimi, who competes in the 67.5kg event today, lost his right leg above the knee 14 years ago when he trod on a roadside landmine in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

Despite the lack of high-tech training equipment and a seven-day-a-week job as a night-time security guard, the 25-year-old is hoping he has done enough hard preparation to emerge from Beijing as a role model for others back home.

“I’m really happy and proud to be an Afghan athlete and the only athlete that will raise the flag of our country,” he said.

“I will try my best to perform well and win a medal so I can go back to Afghanistan and show to one million disabled people there that disabled people can also do sports and can achieve medals and they can live normal lives,” Rahimi said.

He suffered his horrific injury in 1994 when he was on his way, with his uncle, to his grandmother’s house, where his family kept many of their possessions for safety reasons in a country then in the throes of civil war.

“I was not unconscious after the incident. My uncle put me on his back and took me 300m and then we found a car because I was bleeding a lot and they took me to hospital,” Rahimi said.

So what inspired him to continue with sport after losing his leg?

“Before I was disabled I was doing taekwondo and gymnastics. After I was injured I started body building because sport is my hobby,” Rahimi said.

But he said it was difficult immediately to come to terms with his disability.

“I was entering my club and hearing that my juniors were getting better and better. I was feeling I may not be able to continue, then one friend took me to one of my instructors and he said ‘you don’t have to be worried about sport. You can start bodybuilding to keep you healthy,’” Rahimi said.

He later took up powerlifting and represented his country in the 2006 Asian Paralympics in Kuala Lumpur.

Afghanistan Paralympic Committee secretary general Sayed Hewad Akbari said there was a growing appetite for sport in the country despite its continuing troubles, and said success at last month’s Olympics had proved a source of joy.

“One of our taekwondo players [Rohullah Nikpai] won a bronze in the Olympics and he had a very warm reception in Kabul and has been awarded lots of things from the government and businessmen,” he said.

But Akbari added that it was difficult for the disabled in Afghanistan, who are given just a few dollars a month by the government.

“This cannot feed them or their families. There are lots of disabled people who would like to take part in sport but the problem is a financial problem. They are working and sometimes finding good jobs. Sometimes if they’re not, then they start begging on the streets,” Akbari said.

Rahimi, who is looking for a sponsor to provide a more advanced prosthetic leg, is already looking ahead to future competitions — and is hoping to make the most of everything he has learned in Beijing.

He even intends to make his own bench press to improve his training after seeing the latest designs.

“We don’t have such a high standard of sports equipment so I will be glad to make a bench press for myself so I can do my exercises regularly because we have the 2010 Asian games in China [now called the Asian Para Games] and also the 2012 Paralympic Games in London,” he said.

“Seeing all these athletes gives me hope and increases my interest in my sport to be among them and to be among the medals so it’s really a great experience being here. When I go back I will share my experience with the other athletes,” Rahimi said.
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