Disabled man enjoys Scotia 5K: 'I can't walk, but I love sport'

WHEN Scotiabank resumed its in-person Women Against Breast Cancer 5K, after a three-year hiatus, for the first time, a limited number of males were allowed to participate.

The response was overwhelming as the male section was quickly sold out, and even after the deadline for registration there were still requests to participate.

One of the lucky participants to confirm his spot and complete the distance was 52-year-old Gerard Asyn.

The La Horquetta resident suffers from polio and lost all mobility in both legs, since three months old. Polio is a disabling and life-threatening disease. The virus can infect a person's spinal cord, causing paralysis.

However, Asyn’s determination to overcome this lifelong disease seems boundless.

Despite his disability, he loves exercising his upper body and enjoys playing archery and table tennis. Asyn’s passion for sport saw him, in 2019, transform and modify a bicycle into a hand-cycle, to take part in the UWI International Half-Marathon.

Part of a bicycle was welded on to the front of a wheelchair, with the back wheel on the ground and the front wheel and pedal replaced by the handle bar, with gears and chain included to generate speed.

Hand cycles are designed so that the user’s hands do the pedalling. The hand cranks move together instead of alternating pedals on a traditional bike.

He took about three months to build it, but after his first outing at the half-marathon, covid19 hit soon after and Asyn was unable to participate in road races for almost three years.

Since pandemic restrictions were lifted, Asyn resumed his new hobby of participating in distance races, to challenge himself.

After completing the Scotiabank’s Women Against Breast Cancer 5K and receiving his medal, he was all smiles at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain.

“I can’t walk, but I love sport. I’ve always wanted to compete in this area (road races) and challenge myself to do it.

“As a person with disability, I wanted to show people that nothing is impossible. I cannot run, hop or walk but yet, I sat and thought long and hard how to do distance races, and I came up with this idea to build a hand-cycle,” he said.

Asyn has even converted an orbitrek – a stationary cardio-training machine – into one that suits his disability. He’s also a member of local club Edge Runners, and also does charity work.

Asyn said he did the 5K to be an example and advocate for people with disability.

“Life inspired me here today. I have a charity where I give out hampers. When I see some of my members from my group bedridden for six months at 16 years and younger, due to some kind of ailment, accident or gunshot – that inspires me. Some people are just wasting life at the side of the road, even begging me for a dollar. Life inspires me.”

Scotiabank manager, communications and corporate responsibility, Cindy Mohammed, was pleased with the inclusion of men in this year’s race, which totalled over 5,000 participants.

“At Scotiabank, we promote diversity and inclusion and encourage allyship, so it has been exciting to see the tremendous support this event in particular receives from men, women, children and persons of varied backgrounds. We thank all the supporters who came out today and look forward to seeing them in 2024 and beyond,” Mohammed said.