Asiya Mohamed: From losing her legs to Kenya's first female rower at Paralympics

Asiya Sururu Mohamed was born as a normal kid in Mombasa with both legs.

However, in 1994, things took a tragic turn when she lost her legs in a train accident.

Recalling what happened, Asiya noted that a railway line was passing near their homestead. So after eating she went out and noticed a train approaching. But from her estimation, she assumed that the train was still far away.

So she decided to cross the railway line. Mid-way, she fell and as she tried to pick herself up, she failed. By the time she was back to her senses, the train had run over her legs and she was down there writhing in pain.

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The athlete revealed that the experience shocked her father who developed a stroke and passed on immediately.

"I was about 2 years old at that time and the railway line was passing near our house. So I saw the train approaching but I assumed it was far. While crossing the lines, I fell.

My head was outside the railway line and my legs were in the line. I tried to pick myself up but I couldn't. I also heard other people shouting at me to move but I was not able. So the train crushed my leg," she stated during an interview on NTV.

"While going to the hospital, I was with my father in the ambulance. Due to the shock, he also passed on. That hit my mother so bad; imagine losing her husband and a daughter who was walking reduced to a cripple. She also passed," she added.

"I lived in that state until I was 19 when I realized that I was disabled. I started figuring out how to live with that condition."

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Self-acceptance and realization made her develop a passion for sports. She was however spoilt for choices as she was good in wheelchair tennis, badminton, para-rowing, sitting volleyball, chess, scrabble, darts, javelin, and shot put.

Asiya started para-rowing in December 2018. Someone called her at Tudor Water Sports in Mombasa during a tennis tournament and told her to give it a try.

Raised by her aunt, Asiya pulled a surprise by qualifying for the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020. However, she finished sixth in the competition.

But that did not dim her light of lifting the Kenyan flag. With constant practice and determination, Asiya secured a ticket for the Paralympic Games in Paris.

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Asiya said she is keen on building upon her performance at the last edition of the games in Tokyo where she finished sixth in the finals of the PR1 Women’s Single Sculls.

“I look forward to being in the medal bracket. I will not be changing anything from what I did in Tokyo but instead, I will be upgrading (on the performance),” she said.

Asiya’s appearance at her second-ever Paralympics was confirmed after she won the women’s single sculls at the African Olympics and Paralympics Qualification Regatta in Tunis, Tunisia.

She was among 15 Africans who have secured their tickets to Paris, including Algerian Nihed Benchadli and South African Courtney Westley who will be debuting at the championships.

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