Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 58, May 2014 | Page 20

My Story

Fighting SPIRIT
In 2006 Achmat ‘Sharkboy’ Hassiem
was participating in life-saving training off
Muizenberg Beach in Cape Town when
a 4.5-metre Great White Shark attacked
him. Despite losing most of his lower
right leg, Achmat’s indomitable spirit saw
him return to sport, going on to win a
Paralympic bronze medal in swimming
at the 2012 London Olympics, as well as
running and playing other sports.

I

still remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Sunday
morning and I went to the beach with my younger brother,
Tariq, to practise for the upcoming lifesaving exams. After
deciding that Nick, Tariq and I would be the patients and
the others would be the rescuers in the rubber duck, Nick
was dropped in fairly shallow water, I jumped out at head
height around 50 metres out, and my brother went deeper.

Images: Courtesy Achmat Hassiem

I watched them pick up Nick, then I caught something
out of the corner of my eye, a black shadow, and
this big fin broke the water. The shark was heading
towards my brother, so I screamed for the
rubber duck to get
out to him. They
didn’t understand,
so I started
drumming on the
water, to draw the
shark’s attention.
Immediately it spun
and came towards
me, and then the
fin disappeared. I
knew that sharks
like to attack from
the bottom, but
it just bumped
me and its tail
whacked me. I
lost sight of it,
but could see
my brother
was screaming
something at
me. Then I saw
it coming back,
its mouth open.
I put my hand on
the shark’s head and
tried to push myself
on top of it, but I
couldn’t swing my
right leg over… then I
saw half of it was in the
shark’s mouth.

in absolute shock... It pulled me under, then headed
towards deeper water. I was still trying to get out of the
shark’s mouth, but I was getting short of breath and I
remember thinking, why don’t I just let myself drown –
that would be better than what the shark would do to
me. Then I decided, no, fight! I hit the shark with my
fists. It was like hitting a tank wrapped in sandpaper
and soon I had no skin on my knuckles, but I had one
good leg left and I tried to kick the shark. Then it shook
me again, so hard that there was this loud cracking
sound.
I swam for the surface and stuck my hand out of the
water, and that’s when I saw my brother in the rubber
duck. He grabbed me and as he pulled me into the
boat, this massive 4½-metre shark came back and hit
the side of the boat. It absolutely dwarfed the boat!
My brother jumped on me to hold me, closed my eyes
so I couldn’t see what had happened, and said that
everything was going to be okay. And still I felt no pain.
I was airlifted to hospital and when I awoke in intensive
care, the first thing I saw was my brother crying. He
said, ‘Thank you for saving my life,’ then he said ‘Do you
know what happened? Look under the blanket.’ I was
scared, but I looked, and saw my leg was gone – that
was the first moment I really knew what had happened.
I’d always played sport and dreamt of representing my
country some day, and I went into this great depression.

COMING BACK STRONGER

Then one day Natalie du Toit came to visit. She
suggested I get into Paralympic swimming, and I soon
realised the massive opportunity that disabled sport
offers. When I first heard I was going to represent my
country it was everything to me. In Beijing I came ninth
and I was so disappointed that I didn’t make the final,
so in London I swam my heart out, and when I touched
the wall and saw the block was lit up, it was one of the
greatest moments of my life. My little secret is that I
just imagine I’m in the ocean and I’ve got a 4½-metre
shark at my feet. It’s definitely good motivation to swim
fast!
Being a disabled person that was once able-bodied, I
can say nothing has changed. I still go for regular runs,
I still play cricket and soccer in the streets at night,
and I carry on as I used to. Losing a leg is nothing
compared to losing my brother, so I’m just trying to
make the best of it. Today I travel all over the world
to represent South Africa, and all because of a shark
attack and a positive attitude. You have to grab the bull
by the horns and live life – and I want to have a positive
impact on the people around me.

SURVIVAL
INSTINCT

It started shaking
me violently; it
was terrifying,
but there was
no pain. I was
Paralympic Bronze in London 2012.

20

ISSUE 58 MAY 2014 / www.modernathlete.co.za