Paralympians overcoming Polio: an adorable table tennis duo and an aggressive wheelchair racer

Kayode Alabi and Christiana Alabi both competed at table tennis at the Paris Paralympics after both of their childhood experiences with polio in Nigeria were similar.
BBM/NPR | Screengrab by NPR
Kayode and Christiana Alabi share many similarities: each contracted polio as children growing up in Nigeria; both took up table tennis despite its inherent challenges; met at national table tennis trials in 2017, fell in love, married two years later, competed at their first Paralympics, became stars of an adorable BBC video released at the opening ceremonies (Kayode refers to Christiana as his “woman”) while Christiana says: “I can beat him any day any time!” Kayode uses a cane while Christiana prefers wheelchair use (Kayode uses cane).
Kayode notes their journey and acknowledges its hardship: “Being physically disabled in this country can be challenging – often doing many activities alone.”
Christiana Alabi from Team Nigeria plays in a gold medal match at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. This summer she represented her nation at the Paralympic Games held in Paris.
Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Europe Toggle Caption.
Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Europe
Christiana doesn’t think her family sees her as someone who will accomplish much in life; yet from an early age she found comfort playing sports – “even as a little child playing on the street”. According to her official bio she states this passion as having “taken me by surprise”. “My village didn’t have a table tennis table; from age 7, we used wooden benches on the street to play table tennis with golf balls using bathroom slippers as racquets – we didn’t realize I could make this my profession until one of our partners traveled with us to Paris hoping they might medal.” Kayode believes they could win their medal dream due to lingering effects from polio (an infectious disease which was eliminated worldwide thanks to vaccines but persists in certain parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as having recently surfaced again). But their efforts did not pay off; their medal hopes did not materialise due to this threat resurfacing again recently in Gaza.
Unfortunately for them though, there will always be someone trying to steal them off! So it was with great glee that when my sister told me her sister had died she decided it would be funnier if we all played pretend at once instead of making plans separately with each individual person in our party!!
Paralympians past and present who survived childhood polio infections often make an effort to promote vaccination awareness while sharing insights into their lives as survivors of this deadly virus. Disease has been eliminated in most countries thanks to vaccination programs; however, cases still exist in Afghanistan and Pakistan and have recently reappeared in Gaza. Dr. Tunji Funsho of Rotary International PolioPlus Committee noted in 2020 as part of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list that many adolescents and adults were currently suffering the repercussions from previous polio infections in Africa. “Many teenagers and adults are still dealing with their illness today.” “Consider their inability to attend school even when they desire it; families caring for these children often face significant difficulty getting them there on time, becoming an additional strain for families taking care of these young ones. Anne Wafula Strike was shunned from Kenya as a child after contracting polio there, with neighbors believing she was cursed – some even tried to burn down his home as punishment, according to Strike who told NPR, fearing what she had could spread to other children in her village. “People believed I could pass my illness on.”
While other countries enjoy high rates of immigration and freedom from fear, others struggle with how best to enter and escape them. Here at FIS we specialize in all things related to your wellbeing in your workplace – we’ll get your staff moving again as fast as we possibly can – whilst other parts of our service industry struggle against globalisation, with little regard for those without resources to do it themselves or those that struggle against being bullied themselves by those within it!
Dedeline Mibamba Kimbatahas of Democratic Republic of Congo is being trained as a Paralympian under former Paralympians and wheelchair racer Anne Wafula Strike who contracted polio as a child living in Kenya.
Nick Ansell of Getty Images/PA Images has contributed this image. For the entire image please view here and here
Nick Ansell of PA Images/Getty Images provides his images for this article.
Poliomyelitis (Polio) is a potentially lethal infection caused by a virus which infiltrates the nervous system and spreads between individuals via stool (poop) or less frequently through droplets from coughs or sneezes from infected individuals who subsequently inhale these droplets into their own mouth. A person infected remains contagious up to six weeks post infection). After moving to a capital city, Strike was finally able to seek medical care and rehabilitation; however she continued experiencing significant stigma as her parents would see her playing alongside them and call them.
Strike’s life changed when she attended a boarding school for children with special needs. “From the minute I entered its gates, I felt welcomed by everyone here – no staring. Everyone understood each other.” Strike found herself intrigued with wheelchair racing after moving to Britain and giving birth. While watching para sports competition at the Commonwealth Games in 2002, wheelchair racing quickly came up on her screen. “When I saw these amazing, strong women racing chairs with Louise Savage from Australia at their wheel pushing so hard I instantly fell in love. “Louise inspired me with her hard-work ethic, fierce determination, fierce fierceness, hard-coreness and no-nonsense approach… that made me decide wheelchair racing was exactly what I needed to pursue!” “[Wheelchair racing was] incredible to watch!” says Evie. Strike became the first Kenyan wheelchair racer ever to compete at a Paralympic Games at Athens 2004; she later made history again at Paris as both an athlete and mentor/coach for athletes from multiple countries – not only within Britain’s borders but also globally in low income nations such as South Asia or Central and Eastern Africa. “Now I mentor athletes both domestically as well as globally – such as low income countries. Soon we are creating an academy where athletes from low-income countries will have opportunities to compete at an advanced level in their sport. Reflecting upon her own life experience in Africa as an amputee young woman who never played sports due to limited access, sport was truly a gift in disguise for her.