Brave Douglas finds balance in cycling

BRAVE and fearless are two words that best describe 15-year-old Douglas Armitage, an avid cyclist who was born with severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. Diagnosed as an infant, his parents were devastated and constantly worried about how they would cope with his condition.

“We found out a week before his first birthday. It was devastating to know he could not hear, a disability we knew nothing about at the time, and wondered how he would manage everyday activities as a hearing child would,” said Armitage’s mother, Sheryll.

However, as time went by, it became apparent that Armitage did not let his disability stop him from doing whatever he wanted and through sheer determination has achieved tremendous success in the field of cycling. “We are very proud of him,” Sheryll added.

He recently took part in the Amashova Cycle race for the first time, cycling a 35km stretch from Hillcrest to Suncoast Casino. Although the race proved to be challenging for the Fulton School for the Deaf pupil, he persevered and successfully completed the race and won himself a medal.

He has also taken part in the Tinman challenge twice, which is a mini version of the Ironman races, where he ran 5km, cycled for 5km and ran another 5km to the race’s completion.

Armitage has also completed various races with his school, including the Mountain Bike Challenge and other fun cycling events.

Headmistress at Fulton, Beryl Campbell, said the challenge for most of their pupils is finding balance on cycles. “Balance plays a large part in riding a bicycle and deaf people may experience challenges when trying to balance. Through great determination and perseverance many of our learners learn to ride with confidence.

“We have a mountain bike track built on our school grounds which provides a safe and secure environment for our many children to practice on,” she said. Campbell added that the more enthusiastic bikers interested in road cycling are provided with supervised opportunities to train on the local roads.

“Fulton School has sponsored cycling jerseys that clearly indicate that the rider is deaf – this warns motorists and fellow cyclists that no communication or warning sounds from behind will be ‘heard’, and at all races, the hearing athletes are notified of deaf participants to create awareness,” she said.

“Douglas does not train for the cycle races but keeps fit by riding around our neighbuorhood with his friends on weekends and school holidays. His BMX bike is quite old and I know he would love a new one, a proper road bike; hopefully Santa gets the mail,” said Sheryll cheerfully.

Armitage relies on sign language to communicate as he cannot hear speech. He has a love of the outdoors, animals and swimming, and has been a keen bike rider from a young age.

He also enjoys soccer, and eight years ago he did Kofukan Shukokai (karate) and in his first competition received a silver medal for kata and a gold in his first competitive event.