Paull beats odds to make SA proud
Graham Paull's (28) world was about to become his oyster when disaster struck.
TZANEEN – Graham Paull’s (28) world was about to become his oyster when disaster struck.
He was selected to play for the Limpopo Blue Bulls in the 2013 Vodacom Cup, his Haenertsburg rainbow trout business venture was going big and he had fallen in love with a pretty local, Nicky Morgan, a Pilates instructor, who matriculated from Stanford Lake College.
“My life changed on 20th January 2013. I suddenly couldn’t urinate. I thought there was something wrong with my bladder. I then had pain down the back of my legs. Over the next two weeks, my bladder went paralysed and paralysis set in from my feet up towards the waist,” says Paull.
He was diagnosed with a spinal infection called transverse myelitis. He is paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, and doctors cannot give a prognosis.
Paull moved between Mediclinic Tzaneen and Pretoria East Hospital and ultimately to Mediclinic Muelmed in Pretoria for 12 weeks of rehabilitation.
“I had to re-learn everything that one takes for granted.
“Today I can do everyday things quicker, but it still takes more than an hour to do my daily ablutions,” he says.
Paull went to Pretoria Boys High and then spent two years at the Sharks Academy in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. He took up a position in forestry in Louis Trichardt and studied aquaculture by correspondence through the University of Stellenbosch.
He moved to the Haenertsburg area, the home of his maternal grandfather, Patrick McGaffin. In his rainbow trout grow out business, he brought trout in as fingerlings and sold them at 1.1kg to a Lydenburg company that supplied retail stores nationwide.
James Godden from Johannesburg approached Paull while at the physiotherapist and discussed the possibility of para-canoieng.
Paull found a job in Johannesburg, settled in North Riding and began canoeing at the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club at Emmarentia Dam.
Nine months after starting to train at the dam, Paull competed in the Gauteng Canoe Spring Championships at Roodeplaat Dam. He won the gold medal in the para-canoe event for coming first in the 200m and 500m para-canoe races.
This qualified him to take part in the International Canoe Federation Spring World Cup in Duisburg in Germany earlier this year.
The South African team manager, Craig Mustard, says Paull’s first race was not his best due to nerves, but he was strong in the semi-final. His semi-final sixth place at 57.705 seconds wasn’t enough to see him through to the final, but he gained valuable experience.
Paull flies to Milan in Italy on August 14 to take part in the para-canoeing championships on August 19. He will be the first paraplegic to represent South Africa in this sport. He hopes that this will qualify him to take part in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. All these tours are self funded.
Many have been instrumental in helping Paull.
Lannie Motors in Tzaneen paid for his first wheelchair.
“Particular thanks go to Paul du Toit for his help with services on the car,” he says.
Paull also appreciates the help that businessman, Paul Smit gave him and the Haenertsburg community, in particular Tammy van Emmenis from Stevens Lumber Mills, who helped with fundraising.
With his upbeat disposition Paull concludes: “whatever life throws at you, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. You have to pick yourself up and keep on going”.
