Gold medallist grateful for gift
Timely gift: Happy Mohamad Ridzuan (left) remains grateful to Chuah (top).
AS Malaysia celebrated the success of the country’s Paralympians, gold medallist Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi did not forget the humble gift of a pair of running shoes from a lorry driver called Chuah Heng Oon in Perlis years ago.
Chuah, now 57, was delighted to hear of Mohamad Ridzuan’s golden feat in the T36 100m sprint (cerebral palsy) at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, according to Sin Chew Daily.
The report said Chuah bought Mohamad Ridzuan the shoes after learning that he could not afford a new pair when he was selected to be a national athlete seven years ago.
While in Rio, Perlis-born Mohamad Ridzuan, 29, had told the media of his gratitude to Chuah.
His first coach Affizam Amdan, 45, a Perlis Welfare Department officer, had on Sept 18 gone to Gunung Medan Utan Aji in Kangar, where Mohamad Ridzuan used to train, to thank Chuah.
A regular jogger there, Chuah was not seen that day but Affizam managed to get his phone number through Chuah’s friend.
When met at his house, Chuah told the daily that he had forgotten about the shoes that he had given Mohamad Ridzuan until he saw the Games.
“Then I told my wife about it but she did not believe me at first,” Chuah said.
He and his friends used to see Mohamad Ridzuan training there with other athletes.
They would chat with Mohamad Ridzuan and sometimes run with him for a short distance.
“One day, Affizam told me that he was looking for someone to sponsor a pair of sports shoes worth about RM200 as Ridzuan could not afford a new pair after the old one had worn out,” Chuah recalled.
Not long after that, he heard from Affizam that the young man had been selected to be a national athlete.
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