From Adversity To Victory: Partially Blind Swimmer Shines At 2024 Para SUKMA

KUCHING, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- After losing sight in his left eye and only having 60 per cent vision left in his right eye, Khairul Razi Suliman found a new light in his life through swimming which led him to represent Johor at the 2024 Malaysia Para Games (Para SUKMA) in Sarawak.

Khairul Razi, 26, admitted that it was difficult at first to accept the fact that being born normal, he could no longer fully witness the beauty of the world, but the 'turning point' came when he was sent to join a class organised by the Association of the Blind in Kuala Lumpur at the age of 18.

"I was born normal and experienced vision problems beginning in Form Four (16 years old) because one day I woke up and my left eye could not see. I dismissed it as a case of sore eyes but when it persisted for a long time, I went to see a doctor who said my left eye could not be saved because it was too late.

"But in reality I've suffered nerve problems since I was a child, it only got active when I was 16 years old and then it was understood that my right eye will slowly lose sight too. So I was told to take care of my diet," he told Bernama at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre here today.

The youngest of six siblings won his fourth gold medal in the men's 50 metres (m) freestyle S12 (visually impaired) event after recording 29.42 seconds (s), thus erasing the national record of Julius Jaranding of Sarawak who clocked 29.45s six years ago.

Khairul Razi also bagged gold in the men's 100m freestyle S12, men's 100m backstroke S12 and men's 100m breaststroke SB12 events.

The native of Batu Pahat said he was inspired to be in the field of sports by the national champions, citing Datuk Abdul Latif Romly (long jump) and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli (shot put) as proof that the disabled were also capable of achieving success at the international level.

"I really like swimming but I wasn’t very good at it until I joined a talent camp in Johor Bahru at the age of 18. Deep down I knew that for a disabled person, there would not be so many job opportunities, so with the support of my family I knew I could change my future.

"I also lost my father when I was still in school and it's something I can't forget. One day I came back from school and saw many people in front of the house and as soon as I entered the house, I saw a cloth drawn over my father's body," he said.

He said that his priority now was to repay the services of his mother, Halimah Ismail, 67, who used to work as a seamstress, because as he was tutored, "a debt of gold can be paid, a debt of goodwill is brought to death" ("hutang emas boleh dibayar, hutang budi dibawa mati"). 

-- BERNAMA