SA Paralympian Tyrone Pillay to push the medal boundaries in Tokyo

“Peg-leg’’, “Pirate” all slurs the bullies have thrown at Tyrone Pillay since he was a spindly kid, with a gammy leg.

“And yes, it hurt, a lot,” the now big guy with the broad shoulders says.

“But that emotional pain made me what I am today.”

And you don’t doubt, this shot put Paralympian has carried the world on those broad shoulders as he puts on his prosthetic “over my baby leg” to represent his country at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics next week.

No stranger to medals, he got a gold at the Africa Games in 2015 and a bronze at the 2016 Paralympics the 41 year old makes no promises.

“All I have ever dreamed of was to represent SA. I’m living my dream. But, also, nobody likes to come second. I am in it to win it,” said Pillay.

He claims this is his last, he is bowing out, but breathlessly talks about Paris 2024 that is only two and a bit years away.

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Years, like age, mean nothing to Pillay.

Sport, and his vision of standing in his green and gold country colours on a podium, is all that ever mattered. He took up shot put: “only because I was too fat to run” at the age of 29, teaching himself through YouTube videos.

No coach, even today… “Well, never while I do my six-hour, six day-a-week practice on the field. They’re in Denmark, all over the world, dissecting my style.”

And please don’t call him disabled. He is a “differently abled” athlete who gets quite passionate about the abled or disabled.

He ably played cricket for 12 years, first as a fast bowler “140km/h, you know” for the White Knights in Durban and then set his mind on becoming a spinner, successfully.

“But I knew I could never ‘ably’ represent my country on that field.”

“And that’s where Oscar Pistorius did us Paralympians a disservice. He insisted on competing in an ‘abled’ environment, and most of us can’t live up to that.”

Not that Pistorius “what a nice guy” was ever a hero.

“My only hero is my dad,” says the man who dedicated his bronze to his mother who won her fight with cancer.

“My parents sacrificed everything and I will never forget it.”

And he tells how his dad taught him humility.

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“I swaggered on the cricket field knowing I was good. Dad, manager of the team, benched me for six weeks. I was a water boy until I learnt ‘you are no bigger than the team. You are part of it.”

But the tens of thousands Pillay spent out of his own pocket to stand tall in Tokyo doesn’t bother him.

He has a job with Toyota, in the IT department, but lately as their ambassador.

“And I am making a difference being an ambassador for Jumping Kids: we have raised enough funds to fit 1 000 kids with prosthetics. I am making a difference,” Pillay explained.

carineh@citizen.co.za