Home > Sports > High Performance > Australian Deaflympic Team > News > Archive >
Going for Gold...
By Brisbane News via Queensland Deaf Society
6 May 2004
|
Deaflympics swimming star Aleshia Yet Foy with her mother Debbie. |
It's usually the case that the bigger the challenge the better the reward. Bringing up two children with special needs, Debbie and Norman Yet Foy, of Narangba, north of Brisbane, have been faced with more trials than your average parents, and yet they couldn't be more proud of their children.
When her first born daughter, Aleshia, was diagnosed as hearing impaired at the age of two, Debbie's role as a mum became a lot more difficult. About 18 months later, when Aleshia's brother Clifford was born with athetoid cerebral palsy, the road became even bumpier.
"That's when our world sort of turned upside down," Debbie says. "Having kids changes your life, regardless of whether they have special needs or not. Your priorities change, your goals change."
And through sheer devotion, she's now the parent of a two-time gold medal-winning swimmer.
In 2001 at the age of 15, Aleshia was the youngest in her squad at the Deaflympics in Rome. There, she won four medals, including a gold for both the 400m and 800m freestyle. It was a huge moment for Debbie and the family, although they weren't there to see it, Aleshia very nearly didn't make it herself.
Without any government grants or sponsorship it was entirely up to Debbie to raise the substantial funds to enable Aleshia to compete overseas.
"A lot of swimmers were dropping off because it was just too expensive, but we were already so far into it that we couldn't turn back," Debbie says. "All the hard work has paid off."
It's fair to say Debbie has a lot on her plate as a mum. After seeing Aleshia off to training, she feeds and dresses 15-year-old Clifford and prepares him for school - all before setting off to work on Brisbane's northside. It's at about this time that Norm is just getting home from his night shift as a machine operator.
It's no ordinary household, but it's a very close knit one. While Clifford is dependent in a physical sense, the dependency works two ways emotionally.
"Intelligence wise. he's the most delightful child," Debbie says.
He's also Aleshia's biggest fan, and a big reason behind her success.
"When I was at the meet he would tell me to hurry up," Aleshia says. "I went in to race for him."
Aleshia's next big goal is conquering the Deaflympics in Melbourne in January. But despite her success at an elite level, she still hasn't received any sponsorship, which means that Debbie - now with the help of The Queensland Deaf Society - is working to raise funds once again. With a face and talent like AIeshia's, hopefully it won't be long before the sponsors snatch her up.
For more information on how to sponsor Aleshia or other members of Queensland's Deaflympic team visit www.qds.org.au.
|
