DESPITE being born with a disability, some just will not give up.
Varayame Naikolevu was born with a birth defect called clubbed feet where both his feet are rotated internally at the ankle. Later, but also while still very young, both his legs were amputated at the knee.
That has not kept him down. Instead, his late mother’s words keep him going.
He was spotted speeding along in his special wheelchair at Rewa St in Suva. The 22-year-old was heading towards Brown St so he could get a new wheelchair.
“I was born with clubbed feet and later on went to New Zealand to get it amputated. At first, I was devastated as I sat around feeling sorry for myself, but my mother who passed away last year motivated me to do something with my life,” Mr Naikolevu said.
“I studied up to Class Eight at the Suva Special School before I went to New Zealand and while there I missed out on school. So when I returned to Fiji I took up a few vocational courses and applied for a few certificate level courses at the University of the South Pacific.
“My mother passed away last year and this affected me in more ways than one. My grades at USP were affected and I failed two of my units.”
The Malake native from Ra also has sporting ambitions. He represented Fiji in wheelchair shot put and went to Brisbane early this year and took part in the Melanesian Athletics Championship.
“Sadly I did not make the mark for the Paralympics in Rio but there are opportunities and I will keep on trying,” he said.
“When my mother passed away, I had to move to Tavua to stay with my cousin because of financial reasons. I was initially sponsored by a Rotary club from New Zealand but that has stopped.
“I am trying to look for a sponsor who can help me finish my studies and hopefully enable me to get a job so I can do what everybody else can. I have always told myself that I can do almost anything that anybody else can.
“With my mother’s memory in my heart and her words of encouragement in my mind, I will strive on.”
Mr Naikolevu knows he has to prove he is capable of much more.
“I know that God helps those who help themselves and I will help myself. I will keep on trying to achieve what my mother wanted me to become, much more than just a man in a wheelchair,” he said.
And before he shook hands and said goodbye, a lift was offered to this young man, who kindly declined saying: “I can do this.”
