SHARKBOY IS A FIGHTER

The family of Paralympian Achmat Hassiem have faith that he will come round from his coma

- ROBYN LUCAS

HE WAS looking forward to the surgery – in fact, he was quite excited about it. It would mean he’d be free of the backache that had been plaguing him and he’d be able to go hiking with friends, gymming with his brother and gaming with his girlfriend and prepare for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

But things didn’t go as planned for Achmat Hassiem from Strandfontein, Cape Town. Complications from the procedure left the 39-year-old in a coma for weeks and at the time of going to print his family were still waiting for him to wake up.

“I just want to help him,” says his mom, Tho raiyah Hassiem (60). “But there’s nothing we can do – this is our life now. We sit at the hospital the whole day and then come home.”

Achmat made headlines in 2006 when he lost his lower right leg during a great white shark attack at Muizenberg beach while trying to save his young brother, Taariq – a heroic deed that earned him the nickname Sharkboy.

He made a great recovery and started swimming competitively, winning a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

Taariq (32) hopes his brother’s fighting spirit will get him through this latest crisis.

“Doctors are quite happy with the way Achmat’s fighting. They can see that he’s a trooper and a warrior,” he says.

“He could wake up tomorrow, he could wake up in a week, it could be a few weeks, a few months – it’s a waiting game.”