Paralympian’s prosthesis barred from flight
A DURBAN athlete who won a bronze medal for South Africa at this year’s Paralympic Games was allegedly barred from bringing his prosthetic leg on board an SAA flight.
Tyrone Pillay – who suffered a birth defect resulting in his left leg not being properly developed – earned his medal in shot put earlier this month. He was preparing to travel home from the Games on the SA 551 flight from Johannesburg to Durban when the incident occurred.
He took to both his personal Twitter account and SAA’s Facebook page to share his frustration.
On Facebook, he said: “Totally disgusting treatment of me on Flight SA551 as the ground staff refused to allow me to travel with my prosthetic leg. Truly disgusting and awful treatment after we come back from the Paralympics with a medal for our country. Just shows the treatment we receive.”
He aired similar sentiments on Twitter yesterday. “Can’t believe I get treated like this after winning a medal for our country. Totally disrespectful.”
SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed that they were aware of the incident
“As one of the sponsorship partners of the Olympics and Paralympics teams that flew our athletes from Johannesburg to Brazil and back, we are extremely disappointed that Mr Pillay’s otherwise pleasant customer experience got spoilt on the last leg of his journey back home.”
Tlali said it seemed the incident happened just before he got on board the aircraft. “SAA has already made contact with Mr Pillay and we have apologised unreservedly to him.”
He said they were following up on the matter and would have a session with the staff member concerned as soon as he or she reported for duty, to hear their side of the story.
“We were not able to speak to that staff member today as they work shifts and had already knocked off for the day. Our policy makes provision for passenger assistive devices to be carried into the cabin. Mr Pillay’s prosthetic legs fall under this classification and should have been allowed.”
Tlali said: “We have learnt that while this incident had nothing to do with our cabin crew, they also apologised to Mr Pillay.”
Chief executive of the QuadPara Association of South Africa, Ari Seirlis pointed out that SAA normally “played by the rules”.
“This is the first incident of this nature that we’ve heard of. We are aware of SAA’s policy: prosthetics can be kept in the cabin, while wheelchairs are kept in the hold. This is standard international practice.”
Seirlis said the organisation and others in the sector often met with airports and airlines, and they were open to suggestion.
“I think this is a case of an employee who was perhaps improperly trained or was not familiar with the company’s policies.”
CONSIDERED as equals to their able-bodied compatriots, South African Paralympians received a rapturous welcome on their return from Rio de Janeiro.
The 44-member national squad arrived back in the country with a haul of 17 medals – seven gold, six silver and four bronze – to finish the quadrennial showpiece in 22nd place.
This was the country’s smallest medal harvest since the 1992 Barcelona Games, but it was the smallest team South Africa has sent in two decades.
Sports minister Fikile Mbalula sang the praises of the Paralympians as role models in society, sending a message that people with disabilities should be treated as equals.
“The story of the Paralympics is a great story, it is a story of the triumph of the human spirit, it is the story that says to us you are not disempowered by your disability,” Mbalula said.
“Our athletes have shown us that the story of the Paralympics says to us that when you are born with disability, it is not the end of the road. We are all equal and if your child, your sister, your cousin, your brother is born with a disability, don’t lock them behind a closed door.”
Like their Olympic counterparts, the Paralympic medallists received cheques of R400 000 for a gold medal, while silver and bronze medals were worth R200 000 and R80 000 respectively.
“It is not the exclusive right of criminals that can afford to drive Lamborghinis, those who earn money from sport become role models,” Mbalula said.
“We are incentivising and rewarding our team for excellence. We did it in London, where we came back saying whatever you get in the Olympics, you get at the Paralympics.”
Double gold medallist Charl du Toit was the big winner of all the athletes who have stepped on to the podium at either the Olympics or the Paralympics.
Du Toit won gold in the 100m for the cerebral palsied, setting a world record of 11.42 seconds the day before adding the 400m crown to confirm his sprint supremacy, earning him R1 050 000 in total.
The 23-year-old Du Toit said he was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic welcome the Paralympic team received on their return to OR Tambo International Airport.
“I was quite emotional seeing all the support, I love this wonderful country, and am so thankful that people came out to show their support, which makes you proud to be a South African,” Du Toit said.
“It is not about the money, this is about hard work coming together. If I can take these two medals and break them into small little pieces and give them away to the people that have contributed to my career, that is what medals are for.”
Athletics led to most of the medals at the Paralympics, reeling in 15 of the country’s 17 medals at the Rio Games.
Four athletes won two medals each – Hilton Langenhoven (men’s T12 long jump gold, and 200m silver), and Ilse Hayes (100m and 400m T13 silver), Dyan Buis (men’s 400m T38 gold, long jump F38), as well as Du Toit.