Neelusha Memon, aged 27, was always keen on sports. In the year 2000, at the age of 16, she fell ill with a serious disease and was in a coma for four months. When she woke from the coma, she suffered a brain injury which left her with only 30% sight and poor balance. She had to learn to walk, talk and eat again.

　　She also wanted to take part in sport again, but now she needed the support of other people. She climbed Mt Aspiring with friends to help her. She skied down the Tasman Glacier, and she took part in the tandem Paracycling World Championships in Bordeaux, France.

　　Last weekend, she took part in the two-day Coast-to-Coast race. It took her just under 12 hours to complete the first day and on Saturday, she proudly crossed the finish line in 21 hours, 1 minute and 56 seconds. She said the hardest part was running over Goat Pass as it was rocky and uneven. She needed a support person on both her left and right because of her poor balance. Another support person guided the two-person kayak, and another friend guided the tandem bicycle.

　　She believes a blind person can achieve anything with support.

　　Type ‘Paralympics’ in the search box to hear about other disabled athletes.

　　Vocabulary

　　keen on – really like something or someone

　　tandem – a two-person bicycle

　　kayak – canoe

　　achieve – do something with success

　　took:

　　?to take part in – to participate

　　?to take (her) x hours. This is a useful structure e.g. it takes me x hours to walk home; it took me x hours to read this book / to do this assignment / to …

　　Questions

　　?She had many people to support her, in her training and on the two race days. What kind of person volunteers to support a disabled athlete?

　　?She said physical progress gives her mental gain. What does this mean?