Parktown resident Julius van der Wat who is doing great things for children with disabilities has been announced as an official ambassador for this year’s Nappy Run Campaign.
The campaign is an initiative run by the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities that aims to raise awareness about the issues facing children with disabilities, advocates and lobbies for their rights, and also raises funds to buy nappies for children with disabilities.
Van der Wat is 41 years old, although he said he was getting younger by the day. “Being a Nappy Run ambassador is a great honour to me because I am a part of the campaign that is changing people’s perception of nappies and the people who have to wear nappies beyond babyhood,” said Van Der Wat.
Nappy Run is an annual campaign that runs from 3 October to 3 December, concluding on International Day for Persons with Disabilities. The highlight of the campaign is a 5km fun run at the Johannesburg Zoo on the first Saturday of November each year, coinciding with National Children’s Day. This year, the event will take place on 2 November.
Van Der Wat has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he has little to no voluntary movement in all his limbs.
“Luckily for me, cerebral palsy has only affected the motor cortex of my brain, thus my intelligence has not been affected,” he said.
“My motto in life is: ‘I have cerebral palsy; cerebral palsy does not have me’, meaning I choose not to let my cerebral palsy define who I am. Yes, it will always be a part of me, but that’s exactly what my cerebral palsy is, it is a small part of who I am. I choose to focus on the things I can do because I know what I can’t do.”
The newly titled ambassador does a sport called boccia. “It’s an accuracy indoor ball sport played by severely physically impaired athletes. Boccia is a Paralympic sport and is loosely like the sport of lawn bowls. I am a three-time South African champion in the BC3 classification in boccia.”
Nappy Run 2019
When: 2 November
Where: Johannesburg Zoo, Parkview
Details: Follow Julius on Twitter: @JuliusVanderWat. For more information about Nappy Run, to buy tickets to the fun run, or to make a donation, visit www.nappyrun.org.za
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