For Enhamed Enhamed, the visually challenged swimmer who won four gold medals in the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, blindness has become his greatest strength. If he had not lost his eyesight, he speculates, he would probably still be living at Canary Islands in Spain with his parents and leading a simple life. [break]
“Blindness is taking me to places. It’s a blessing in disguise. It has brought me out of my shell and exposed me to the greater world,” he smiles.
Enhamed was born with an eye defect. The doctors had warned his parents that sudden movements could detach his retina and he could go blind. He, however, never paid any heed to them. One day, he was running around, and he just lay down to rest for a moment. When he reopened his eyes after five seconds, he could not see anything.
He adapted himself surprisingly well to this expected yet unfortunate situation. He went to school regularly and also started practicing with a local swimming club. Water, according to Enhamed, became his haven during those dark times. Once he stepped into the pool, he was able to tune out all kinds of sounds and smells and experience a calmness somewhere deep within him.
“Out of so many sports, I had chosen swimming because it’s the only one in which you can be on your own and set your own speed,” he shares.
Until the age of thirteen, he continued to practice with the same club. But destiny seemed to have other plans for him. His skills and hard work had opened the doors to world championship for him in 2002 in Argentina. This further paved the way for him to keep training and working for the Athens Olympics in 2004. He was only 17 when he won his first medals. These sowed seeds of hopes and dreams in his young mind that had a potential to bear fruits of success and fortune for him in future.
The World Championship of 2006 in South Africa turned out to be a good opportunity for him to shine and stand out. But he was still not satisfied. He kept striving for more and more. He knew he needed to work harder and swim faster if he wished to aim higher. By then, Enhamed had set his eyes on the Beijing Paralympics and had vowed to himself that he would definitely break a few records.
"I never pressurize myself to win a medal. I just tell myself that when I’m in the pool, there should be nothing but water ahead of me."
“My game, my whole personality and my attitude towards life had to be changed if I wanted to fulfill my own expectations. I had set high standards for myself and they had to be achieved,” he says.
A self-proclaimed chatterbox outside water, Enhamed started to shut out the rest of the world for seven hours everyday as he practiced, lap after lap. His large group of friends and family hardly saw him anymore as he groomed himself tirelessly for the biggest game of his life so far. And the hard work and sacrifice finally paid off when he ended up winning four gold medals in the Beijing Paralympics, thus proving himself as one of the finest swimmers on earth.
However, after the Beijing games, it slowly dawned on him that he had other callings in addition to swimming. He now wanted to do something for the blind people of the world with the reputation, resources and vigor that he possessed. On the course of his travel, he met Linda, an American lady who had been working for the visually impaired in different parts of the world. It was this encounter that recently brought him to Nepal.
“I wanted to connect with the right kind of people. When I met Linda in Los Angeles, I immediately knew that I was on the right track,” he says.
The visit to Nepal, according to Enhamed, has been an extremely fruitful one in terms of gaining new experiences and connecting with new people from an entirely different culture. He visited Dhulikhel, Ilam and Kathmandu and was amazed to see how well and efficiently the visually challenged people in Nepal were working in spite of so little resources.
“After meeting the others, I realized how lucky I had been to be able to see for those first seven years. I can at least differentiate different shapes, colors, patterns and designs unlike those who were born blind,” he mentions with a casual sip of coffee.
The list of his works, however, does not just end here. He has also been traveling all over the world giving motivational speeches. He talks about his life, emotions and the different aspects of being born as a differently able. He believes that one is different not because he or she is born different but because he or she acts differently.
His speeches are well received in places like Germany, Spain and the USA and despite the initial difficulty he had with English, he has managed to gain absolute command over the language within a mere couple of months.
“Many find my life interesting and inspirational. Right from the day I learnt to walk without a stick to the moment when I’m standing in front of them to talk, everything becomes quite a story,” he shares with a small smile.
He also gives full credit to his family for encouraging him to follow his heart. He had started living away from home quite early in his life and that was when he learnt to cook pasta and take care of his own needs. Most importantly, he is grateful to them for not treating him differently than other children. The greatest lesson that they taught him was that a person can never learn anything unless he learns to do it himself.
“My sister expects as much from me as she would from any other sibling. She shuts the door on my face if I return home without any gifts,” he laughs.
Although a warm and social person most of the time, he, however, isolates himself and listens to some strong music right before the tournaments. He turns off everything and gradually even the exhaustion and wounds of his own body cease to make any difference. After these rituals, when he steps into the water and starts swimming, it ceases to be a game and becomes pure meditation.
“Winning is just a part of the learning process. I never pressurize myself to win a medal. I just tell myself that when I’m in the pool, there should be nothing but water ahead of me,” he says.
However, being at peace with oneself does not mean that one should stop challenging oneself. Someone who took up swimming because it was basically a solitary sport, Enhamed now wants to do marathons and cycling as well. In fact, a triathlon tournament which comprises long-distance swimming, cycling and running is the next big thing on his ambitious list. This is indeed a bigger challenge, given the fact that all these sports sound almost an impossible feat for somebody who is visually impaired.
“I may never be able to become a pilot nor do many other things that people with eyesight can do. But I can achieve a lot if I work hard and practice,” says Enhamed.
Being born as a differently able or becoming so after a certain point in life ceases to be of much importance once you decide to make use of whatever you have and do your bit well. Enhamed, with confidence, dedication and optimism, has proved what he had stated upon winning those four gold medals that changed his life forever – He is indeed a man who “won his blindness.”
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