Paralympic Fears

I awoke in pain
I awoke in fear
Heartache I cannot feign
I will not shed a tear

All this time
All these fights
Out of bed I climb
I will see my name in lights

They told me no
They told me to quit
That race was the final blow
It’s over you must admit

But… what if?
If the others don’t show?
What if?
If I add to the medal flow?

With searing pain
I breathe in deep
In this race I will remain
A medal would not come cheap

I awoke in pain
No hope - not a slither
Each movement a strain
My dreams began to wither

I went to bed in agony -
Beneath my pillow, pure fantasy
a beautiful lump of silver
Cannot say I don’t deliver!


Notes ▼

In Beijing 2008 (Paralympic Games), on the morning of her 50m backstroke (the main event) Fran woke up barely able to lift her arm above her head without excruciating pain travelling down her whole arm. On the way to the pool for the heats she thought seriously about withdrawing from the race, but kept her thoughts to herself – she knew that if she told people how bad it was, they would force her to pull out. She managed to get in the pool and warm up, but she cut her warm up down from 800m to 200m – this is never ideal, but 50m more would’ve ended it, and she only needed 50m to complete the race. The heat is a total blur; she remember having to physically throw her arm up to be able to swim, yet, somehow, she managed to qualify for the final in second place – there was no way she was withdrawing now...

True story