Oscar Pistorius speaks about his boating accident

From The Daily Mirror in the UK:

Oscar Pistorius has told how a boating accident shattered his face and threatened his life - but will not stop him competing at next month's BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

"Bladerunner" is back in training after the freak crash near Johannesburg in February which smashed an eye socket, his jaw, nose and two ribs.

Typical of a man who sprinted into the record books despite having both legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday, he views it as just another hurdle to overcome.

Yet, as the four-time Paralympic gold medallist revealed to Mirror Sport, this was no minor prang.

"Training had been going well so I suggested to a mate that we take a boat out on the Vaal river and relax a bit," said the South African.

"It is a narrow river and a lot of the jetties are old and don't have flotation devices so when the water level is high, as it was that day, they are submerged.

"We weren't going too quickly, probably no more than 30 kph (18mph) but we hit a pier that was under the water and I was thrown hard onto the steering wheel.

"I lost a lot of blood and it was pretty scary. My nose sort of peeled open, my orbital socket disintegrated and my nasal cavity broke from my nose to the top of my jaw.

"I had to be airlifted to hospital and the doctors had to do quite a bit of work." Had it happened to a lesser spirit, the consequences could have been devastating.

But this is a guy who grew up playing sport with able-bodied kids by strapping on prosthetic legs for TO his rugby and tennis and taking them off for water polo.

A guy who bought himself a motorbike and when he wrecked his knee playing rugby and was required to run as part of his rehab, took half a second off the Paralympic world record in his first 100 metres race wearing carbonfibre blades.

Months later he won 2004 Paralympic gold in Athens over 200 metres. The following year he won the 400m at the able-bodied South African Championships.

Inspired by the attitude of his late mum Sheila, his lifelong motto is "you're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you're able by the abilities you have".

So the 22-year-old, who claimed a golden hat-trick at last summer's Beijing Paralympics, is not about to break the habit of his lifetime now as he fights to regain his fitness.

"As a kid there was never a question of me going to a school for physical disabilities," he said.
"Mum made sure of that.

"In her eyes no challenge was too great and she instilled that in me.

"I've still got a bit of pain in my face. I've got a piece of plastic under my eye and the doctors say the swelling in my nose will take anything from six to 12 months to go down.

"I've lost about six kilos in the last 12 weeks. That's a lot of muscle, a lot of physical endurance that I'll have to build up again.

"But in my mind there have never been any barriers for me in sport. I don't perceive myself as having a disability.

"I see only my ability.

"So while missing five weeks' training at this time of year is a bad setback I fully intend to be in Manchester.

" I wouldn't miss that for the world."

Oscar Pistorius is official ambassador for the BT Paralympic World Cup which takes place in Manchester, UK, from May 20 to 25.