Cape Town - During disability awareness month, 44-year-old Johannesburg-born Theo Bierman is set to run back-to-back Ironman races to raise funds for The Paige Project for people living with cerebral palsy.
The challenging Ironman races will take place on November 18 and 19 in the Cradle of Humankind.
Bierman, who is also an Ironman coach, says that he and his four partners started The Paige Project in 2011 to raise funds for and awareness of children and young adults with varying disabilities living in care centres who are in dire need.
He says that they all have family members that are currently suffering from cerebral palsy and it is called The Paige Project because Paige Morgan Barson, who was born with cerebral palsy, is the daughter and niece of two of the founders of the project.
“Long time ago we started raising funds for Paige and it worked so well until we decided to go out and support many outreach programmes around the country,” he said.
Bierman said that cerebral palsy is a forgotten disease in the country, and while there is a lot of support for other “mainstream” diseases, few people know what it is about.
“The need is great and unfortunately disability is far too neglected and those with disabilities (are) marginalised, abandoned, rejected. We offer as much support as we can and try our utmost to do what we can on every level.
“We are not medical individuals and all we do is that we come up with ideas and do fundraising with sports events like golf days and the 94.7 race. What we have done for the last 11 years has really made a huge impact in different initiatives that we support.”
He revealed that they have been able to support an initiative at the Donald Fraser Hospital in Limpopo, and raise funds to open an occupational therapy paediatric wing at a hospital in Benoni.
Bierman says that they have lost the backing of most of people who have been supporting them, some of whom have emigrated, and they are trying to create awareness of their cause among mainstream society by going big.
“Ironman is part of my life. No one has been able to run two Ironman (events) back-to-back within a space of two days and I will be the first person in the country to do that. My target is to raise R100 000 for all the centres we support.
“We go around and ask hospitals for wheelchairs that they don’t use anymore and we refurbished them and go into a particular home that has persons suffering (from) cerebral palsy and do an analysis on that person so that the wheelchairs can fit those people ... the reason we do this is because oxygen is restricted to the body if those wheelchairs are not in good condition.”
IOL
sibuliso.duba@inl.co.za