New Zealand wrestler Clinton Terry lost his first 40 fights in his career. Many athletes would simply finish their performances. However, Clinton acted differently. He did not give up, continued to go out on the carpet and became a 10-time champion of the country.
Penicillin made an invalid
This may seem like a typical story of overcoming. Each champion overcame difficulties on the way to victories. But Terry's case is unique. He won gold medals while being blind. At the same time, Clinton never performed in the Paralympic disciplines, all the rivals were sighted. terrible disease. Once, little Clinton had a fever. After the examination, the doctors prescribed antibiotics for the child. At that moment, no one knew that the baby had an intolerance to penicillin.An allergic reaction provoked Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The disease causes cell death, affects the mucous membranes, and blisteres the eyes, throat, mouth, and nose. The boy was transferred to the intensive care unit, where he stayed for nine weeks.
Because of the illness, the wrestler's face is still covered with burns. Stevens-Johnson syndrome destroyed Terry's corneas and tear ducts. The boy became disabled.
Sense organs like a superhero
Despite losing his sight, Clinton always dreamed of being an athlete. As a child, he tried rugby, football and even cricket. Terry did not want to play in the Paralympic analogues of sports, so he went exclusively to sections with healthy children, but he could not gain a foothold anywhere. Desperate, Terry changed team events to individual ones. At the age of 19, the guy took up wrestling.In the new discipline, too, nothing worked. Terry lost the first 40 fights without scoring a single point. It is unlikely that at least someone then thought that the blind wrestler would still come to success.
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"I lost the first fight in 30 seconds. And you know what? It was amazing! After the defeat, I immediately told the coach that I would continue and become the champion of New Zealand, and then Oceania. I repeated this after every defeat, and people around just laughed, «Clinton explained.
After another failure, Terry began to set realistic goals. At first, he just wanted to score at least a point in a duel. Then — not to lose ahead of schedule, then — to win the first victory. New tactics and countless practices led to 10 gold medals at the New Zealand Championships and three victories at the Oceania Championships.
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"I don't remember what it means to see. But I'm not completely blind, I can see the light and understand when it's dark. That's all. Due to the lack of vision, my other senses did not work differently, I'm not a superhero. I learned everything myself, most people simply do not develop the senses, but I train them, «Terry said.
In addition to touching, he can understand the location of the opponent. As the wrestler moves across the mat, it creates vibrations that Clinton can pick up. Terry also navigates by hearing.
Clinton's fate and unique sensibility links him to the Marvel comics character Daredevil. He also lost his sight in childhood, but the rest of the senses were greatly enhanced. Comparisons to superheroes have become such an integral part of Terry's life that a few years ago he opened a martial arts school called Daredevil. the person in the gym who would train better than me. No one spends more than a week there. This is not an insult to students, they know. Everyone should understand that you need to work more milestones to become a champion,» Clinton applied to his students.
At Terry's school they teach not only freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, but and jiu-jitsu. In 2014, Clinton switched to the sport. Just five years later, he won a bronze medal at the World Championships and won the national championship seven times. And now the pedestals at local competitions are being stormed by his students.