Manchester: The road that leads to the Olympic Games for any athlete is never easy, but for swimmer Natalie du Toit it was even more so.
Twenty-four-year Natalie is the first amputee swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games.
At the age of six she knew all she wanted was an Olympic gold. She had the talent and the determination, but at 17 fate had other plans for her.
“It was a freak accident. I went to the hospital and they had to amputate my leg because it started going gangrene eventually. And then I wanted to get back into the pool again, I wanted to get back to life, I wanted to get back to what I knew as life," she says.
Six months after her operation, she was back in the swimming pool again.
Last May, she fulfilled her dream by qualifying for the 10-kilometer race at the Beijing Olympics where she will compete alongside able-bodied swimmers in a race often described as "wrestling in water”.
“You know it is not about proving anybody wrong; it is about proving that can be done. I think that is the important part,” Natalie says.
While some lives change stories, some stories change lives. Natalie du Toit’s life is one of those inspiring stories; one that is much bigger than the medal she will be aiming for this August.
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