Taken from danielfooddiary.com
Equestrain rider Laurentia Tan, now 33, has just won a bronze in the Paralympics Grade IA individual championship dressage test, Singapore’s first medal at the London Paralympic Games. She first made news for winning Singapore’s first medal at the Paralympics Games at Beijing 2008. It was also Asia’s first Paralympics equestrian medal.

Doctors once diagnosed her as ‘spastic’ and unable to walk, and told her parents that she would lead a life of a vegetable. Laurentia has come a lot way in overcoming all odds to achieve her dreams. Even though she was profoundly deaf, she performed on form in competitive world riding competitions where she was cued by music!

However, she did not let this condition handicap her and just laughed about it, “I am always striving to do things that the ‘able bodied’ can do… and that includes using chopsticks, especially when everyone else is using them!”

Everything I see Laurentia’s article in the news, I feel proud of her, yet ashamed of myself. As we cross hurdlers in life, giving up seems so easy and straight forward. But we always take things for granted, such as a very ordinary thing like eating with a pair of chopsticks. Laurentia has taught me so much – on how we can appreciate the simpler things and moments in life.
“ For me, riding a horse gives me the freedom; the movements and energy that my own legs cannot do! It has helped my mobility, my co-ordination and given me confidence in myself. It has also taught me a lot about life; about teamwork, partnership, trust, and also that hard work can be rewarding. Our greatest glory is not in never failing; but in rising every time we fall”, as Confucius once said; and behind every success is a team of many individuals working together. It is not about the horse or the rider alone, nor is it just about how the horse and rider perform together as one, but also the people working with them and supporting them.”
LOCATION: Galphay, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
DATE: May 2010
© Liz Gregg