AFTER being orphaned and having her left leg amputated due to a cancerous infection by the age of five, Rwandan Solange Nyiraneza (pic) defied all expectations and societal prejudices to grow up to become a Paralympian sitting volleyball player.
Nyiraneza’s life began with enormous hardships – her mixed Hutu-Tutsi parents were murdered during a robbery at their home when she was five months old and her older sister, then aged just 12, took over the job of raising her two younger siblings.
“My sister, she had a bad life because she was raising me and my brother,” said Nyiraneza.
“I was young, even my brother was young. So it was difficult. She was fighting for us, while she was young.”
Nyiraneza said her sister often went without food herself to ensure her siblings had enough to eat, and then the young family’s life became even harder when she was just five.
Nyiraneza fell when playing with her brother and broke her left patella.
Fearing her overburdened sister’s reaction, she hid the injury until it became too much and she was brought to see a local doctor.
Eventually, she had to go to hospital and she discovered the infection caused by the injury had become cancerous and she would have to have her leg amputated.
Despite the increased difficulties to their already precarious situation due to the loss of her limb, Nyiraneza’s sister refused to give up on her.
“I was an amputee, I had a disability, so they were saying ‘these people who are disabled, they’re not important, she will not grow up’, but my sister fought for me.
“These people I remember them saying, ‘don’t take care of that girl, please go and take care for her brother, he is a man, he can grow up, he can do something which is better than that girl’.
“But (my sister) said, ‘this is my little sister, this is my little brother, I have to take care of them both’.”
Nyiraneza started playing volleyball and said if it wasn’t for the sport, she wouldn’t be where she is now.
The sport has taken Nyiraneza all over the globe, and she was part of the Rwanda team that made history by being the first African women’s team to play at a Paralympic Games at Rio 2016.
She played in the Tokyo edition three years ago and made more history when Rwanda won their first Paralympic match by beating hosts Japan in straight sets.
So in Paris, Nyiraneza is back for her third Games. Rwanda lost their opening match against world champions Brazil and fell 3-1 to Slovenia on Saturday.
They will play their final group-stage match against world number one Canada today and Nyiraneza said the underdogs will “fight” for a win, against the odds.
Now aged 28, Nyiraneza still lives with her older sister, who has children of her own, and the volleyballer uses her sporting talent to help ensure her family have a better life.
“I am trying to help her kids, because me, I’m not married, I’m still at home,” she said.
And Nyiraneza had a message for the people that told her sister to stop caring for her when she lost her leg.
“Now, I’m here in France, I went to Rio, I went to Japan ... I’m flying when some people have never touched an airplane.
“You see, we (people with disabilities) can do anything.” — AFP
