Chad Gifford

 Chad and his dog Ruby during their daily walk around the complex.

Chad busy with his daily chores around the house.

Chad and Ruby just after their walk.

 

Chad and Ruby busy with a website.

 

 Chad often trains at his home before leaving for swimming practise

.

 Chad gets into his modified car taking his "Skateboard"with him.

 Chad making his way to the pool for practise.

 In the water is where he feels free.

An exhausted Chad gets out of the pool after practise.

Chad during the 2012 Nedbank Championship for the Disabled.

Chad Gifford lives his life 15 centimeters above the ground.

The 41-year-old swimmer who is trying to qualify for the Paralympics gets around lying face down on his “skateboard” because of the nature of his disability.

It doesn’t stop him from driving a car, cooking his own dinner, and walking his dog.

After making two cups of coffee while on his skateboard, carrying them in one hand to the lounge while pulling himself along with the other and not spilling a drop, Gifford says:

“When I dream, I dream with my legs; I never see a wheelchair in my dreams.”

Just before his 20th birthday, Gifford was involved in a horrific car accident in Durban. The former Petty Officer (PO) was left with three broken vertebrae, four broken ribs and a broken leg.

That was just the beginning of his ordeal.

Paralysed from the waist down, two years later he developed pressure sores on his buttocks, something every wheelchair bounds person dreads and fell into a septic coma for six weeks at Pretoria’s 1 Military hospital.  His parents counted 37 tubes inserted all over his body; various pipes into his lungs, arms and upper chest area to mention just a few. His heart stopped six times in a single day and his parents were told that he had a one in 10 000 chance of making it out of the hospital alive. Gifford recalls hearing the heart monitor do the flatline sound.  “I heard someone saying; he’s gone.” “A minute or more must have gone by, who knows.  My mother told me that a priest was called in to do the final rights.”

His surgeons explained that the only option to speed up his recovery was to amputate Chad’s right leg and to perform an amputation flap. The surgeon makes an incision around the part of the limb to be amputated, removes the bone, and a flap is constructed of muscle, connective tissue, and skin to cover the damaged area caused by the pressure sores. Gifford proved how strong he was mentally by making a miraculous full recovery and returned to work at the Navy Headquarters before resigning in 2000.

Unfortunately in 2001 Gifford was again plagued by pressure sores and his left leg had to be amputated. After he finally left Pretoria’s 1 Military Hospital, Gifford moved back home with his parents in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg. Upon recovery he began swimming in the family pool to regain his strength.

After extensive reconstructive operations, Gifford’s surgeon, Dr Joost Blok, challenged him to swim the Midmar Mile with him – the world’s largest open water swim, outside Pietermaritzburg .  In February 2009, he swam his first - in 36 minutes.

He beat his doctor.

Since then, Gifford, who earns a living as a website designer, has won numerous medals, competing in national swimming events including 2Gold, 3Silver and 3 Bronze medals at the National Nedbank Disabled Championships and qualifying for the 2010 World Championships for the Disabled in Eindhoven. He also succeeded in obtaining his International Athlete’s Licence from the International Paralympics’ Committee, something that’s not easily done by someone swimming competitively for only 2years.

Although he may have narrowly missed qualifying for the London Paralympics by not swimming “A” times in his Paralympic qualifying events, it’s not too late for the world championships in 2014 and Paralympics in 2016.

Gifford’s day begins at 5am when he drives to the St Andrew’s swimming club for training sessions.

His face lights up when he arrives at the swimming pool. He wheels his “skateboard” out onto the paved walkway, and inches to the poolside on his hands.

“Hearing the water gush by as I swim keeps me calm and focussed.”.”It’s a feeling of freedom; I’m in my own little world away from all the daily problems.”

Besides his website design business, Gifford also collects empty printer cartridges for recycling, which helps raise funds for himself and other disabled swimmers to compete in international competitions, and conducts motivational talks.

He does his own household chores and cares for his dog.

His dog, Ruby, is this single man’s best friend.

He endures great discomfort in his wheelchair to take her on walks around his townhouse complex every day. He throws a ball around for her in his back garden.

How can someone who has been dealt the hand which Gifford has remain so positive?

“It’s not easy. It’s not just about what goes on in your mind. It’s about what you have lost as well,” he says.

“It took me five years to accept what had happened to me. The first five are the hardest.”

By Herman Verwey