Six-year-old Ismail Zulfic from Zenica, the boy who was born without arms, never stops to delight everyone in the region and abroad. This brave boy won a gold medal for the swimming club Spid at the Ninth regional championship in swimming for the disabled in Croatia, which was held a few days ago. Thus, he showed that persistence, desire for life and success are something that really pays off.
From a boy who had a phobia of water and who actively uses only one leg while swimming, Ismail became a hero of the nation, as many like to call him.
He started with swimming last year at the Olympic pool Otoka in Sarajevo. Due to the fact that there is no pool in Zenica, he is coming to Sarajevo twice a week to train with his friends with different disabilities.
This butterfly without wings proved to everyone that the desire, will, and perseverance are the most important and that success will eventually come as well.
“It was not hard to win. I love to swim. I love skiing as well. I ski on Bjelasnica,” said Ismail, with a smile.
“I was very happy. I love my friends from the club,” he added.
“We have 10 children in the group, where I make ten different types of training within one training. They are doing really great things. We have managed to make a little miracle in less than a year,” said the coach Amel Kapo, who is also the founder of the first and the only swimming club for persons with disabilities in BiH.
“We are still under so many impressions. We are so proud of our Ismail, his fight, his success and everything he achieved in life so far. We did not expect him to win. We went to the competition so that Ismail can feel the joy of the competition, to meet some new friends and see what it all looks like,” said Ismail’s mom Elmina.
“He is such a positive boy, full of energy and life. He looks at everything from a positive side. He has that strong winning spirit, he hardly accepts the defeat and does everything to win. He is using his feet as we use our hands. Everything we do with hands, he does with feet: eating, writing, drawing … He is completely independent boy,” said his proud mother.
(Source: faktor.ba)