Captain Kirwa’s been fighting against the odds

Before competing in the 5,000m T12 event on Monday night, Kenya Paralympic Team Captain Henry Kirwa knew he was ready.

“I’ve done easy jogging,” Kirwa said. “I’ve been given a number. I am ready to fight. That is a war.”

And on Wednesday, he will aim to be a gold medal winner in the 1,500m.

Unfortunately, since the International Paralympic Committee withdrew the 10,000m T12 and 5,000 T13 from the 2012 Paralympic athletic programme, Kirwa can only defend his 1,500m title.

As the 2011 World Champion silver medalist in the 1,500m, T13, he is expected to battle against Abderraihm Zhiou for the gold medal.

The last four years of Kirwa’s life have been a whirlwind of championships, prize money, accolades and special honours.

Person of the Year

After winning three golds in Beijing (10,000m T13, 5,000m T13, and 1500 T13), he returned to Kenya as a hero for the able-bodied and disabled.

He was named 2009 United Nations Kenya Person of the Year and the UN Development Programme appointed him as an advocate.

Kirwa was born in Nandi, the second born of five siblings.

He’s been married to Caroline Kirwa for more than 20 years and they have three children - Albright, 13, Kensington, 10, and Jeruto who is just five months old.

“When you have a disability to get a wife is not easy” Kirwa said.

“I love her because she accepted me the way I am. She took care of me.”

Kirwa started running when he was 15 years old.

Unlike most younger Kenya runners, Kirwa never attended school and therefore didn’t begin running in school.

“I did not get a chance to go to school,” Kirwa said.

“My father died early. And my mom had too many problems. I didn’t get to go to the school for blind.”

Champion without school

It was his older brother, who had joined the Kenyan military athletics team, who inspired him to take up running.

“I followed him when he was training,” Kirwa said. “I had to keep up with him because I was visually impaired and he would lead the way.

“I just became a champion just by athletics without school. In my village sometimes I joined the other able-bodied runners. But it wasn’t that good. When people know you are blind they run away from you.”

When training, Kirwa runs with a guide but he doesn’t need one during competition. “It’s no problem because I just look down and follow the line,” Kirwa said.

“I don’t need a guide. Sometimes I get lost before the race because I don’t read.”

Like most championship runners Kirwa’s life improved economically after he won three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

Before the Games he was a wheat and maize farmer.

He received nine million shilling from the government and this money helped him to expand his photo and commerce shop, buy land and even send his children to boarding school.

Changed his life

“We struggled from nowhere to somewhere,” Kirwa said. “ So we have to give the kids the good life.”

He also now assists his family and other disabled people.

“We don’t worry about things every day,” Kirwa said when asked how the money changed his life.

“We also assist others. People with disabilities and orphans. We sometimes donate some money and we donate some food and we donate some clothes.”

Kirwa is so proud of his disability that he wouldn’t change anything about his life. “Without the disability I would not be where I am now.”

The bigger question is whether he’ll go for Rio 2016 Games where he will be 43.

“Why not,” Kirwa said. “When you have 50 years, you can still run, it depends how you are taking care of yourself.”
He’ll likely start focusing on the marathon.

He says that even as he competes for the 2012 Paralympic Games, he’s already thinking about 2016.