Train robbery hero eyes the Paralympics
‘It is a long-term goal of mine to try to represent the country’
MORE than a year after he fractured his spine when a group of assailants threw him from a train, Darryn August is now a motivational speaker and has his eye set on the Paralympics.
Aiming for the Games in Tokyo in 2020 would be pushing it, but August said he was working on competing at the Games in the near future. “It’s not a small feat to be part of the team. It is a long-term goal of mine to try to represent South Africa in some disciplines,” he said.
Last year August fractured his spine in two places when he was tossed from a train and hit a tree while trying to protect female passengers. August said he used himself as a decoy when a group of between five and eight men started robbing people.
He is now partially wheelchair bound but said he would not be deterred by that.
“My training really has to be on par with everything else, and I want to join a club. It’s quite a strenuous process.”
August said he was considering cycling or water events like rowing.
“There are awesome people I have looked at in the past like Ernst van Dyk, and they have awesome coaches. If I can get a really good team who know what they are doing that would be quite awesome,” he said.
He added that before he was injured he spent a lot of time near the sea and was also a soccer coach.
August’s friend Graeme Kuys has started a crowdfunding campaign for medical fees.
“I’m not a religious man but I am a man of faith, and when God prompts you to do something, you do it. The Darryn I knew was so full of life and energy, you could barely restrain him in a chair for 10 minutes. He had given so much to others through educational programmes and coaching, and it was hard to think of him in a hospital bed struggling to come to terms with his injuries,” Kuys said
He pledged to cycle laps of the Steenbras viewpoint.
In a few days the initial R50 000 fundraising target was shattered, generating more than R500 000 for the local hero.
“I first attempted the Steenbras climb in 2015 and failed, so I had unfinished business with that mountain. I knew it was going to be brutally hard but I thought it would give people a great incentive to
THE INITIAL R50 000 TARGET WAS SHATTERED, GENERATING R500 000 FOR DARRYN
support Darryn,” Kuys said.
He was joined by Wimpie van der Merwe and Daryn Goldsbrough in completing the attempt.
JUST over a year ago one ordinary Capetonian decided to do an extraordinary thing which changed his life forever. Darryn August, a Metrorail commuter, was on his way to work when he came to the rescue of a woman who was being robbed by a gang of assailants on a train.
His good deed was, however, met by a group of cowards who assaulted him before they callously threw him from a moving train. He struck a tree and fractured his spine.
Darryn’s life would never be the same. He would never walk the long distances he was used to before that fateful day.
But he did not wallow in self-pity. Instead, he used his experience to help others.
Since the attack, he gives motivational talks and now has his eye set on the next Paralympics where he aims to compete in a number of disciplines. But preparing and getting to the Paralympics is costly.
His friend, Graeme Kuys, decided to help by starting a crowdfunding campaign to help get him to the Paralympics. Kuys cycled laps of the Steenbras Dam Viewpoint, a total elevation of 8 848m, equal to that of Mount Everest. He raised more than half a million rand for the local hero.
KUYS should be commended and we urge everyone to contribute.
Darryn is a hero in the full sense of the word. Thank you, Darryn, for taking a stand for what is right. As South Africans, we must help Darryn at a time when he needs all the support he can get.
It takes courage to stand up to criminals like the ones he encountered when he saw a helpless woman in trouble. Darryn has shown that we should not sit back.
This country needs more people like Darryn and Graeme, who refuse to sit back and do nothing, but instead rise up and make a difference.
What makes these young men great is that they took a concious decision to act.
Similarly, we can do the same and be champions for what is good.
Good luck to Darryn. We hope to see you on the medal podium at the Paralympics.