MARK ETHERIDGE: Social media goes gaga over young Tyler Brummer’s first gala

Christmas is only  10 days away, and, what with the three Cs of Covid-19, crime and corruption constantly hogging the headlines, South Africans always need something to bring some cheer to their lives. Pietermaritzburg provided just that earlier this week in the tiny shape of 10-year-old Tyler Brummer.

Sport is certainly not only about the packed stadiums, shiny medals and huge financial incentives on offer. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface is an awful amount of blood, sweat and tears.

Tyler had an adoring crowd cheering him on at his very first swimming event, at a low-key Seals swimming gala meeting in the KwaZulu-Natal capital city with the sounds of “Let’s go Tyler, let’s go!” in a heart-warming video that has since gone viral on social media.

This little chap has been through more in his decade of life than most people will endure in their lifetimes.

Tyler turned 10 two months ago, and it’s been 10 years of struggle.

His adoring mom, Tiffany says he was born in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, and at six months was diagnosed with diplegic cerebral palsy.

Like so many South Africans, private medical aid was a luxury and the government route saw a slow and ponderous path to doctors, physiotherapists and occupational therapy. A missed appointment at Steve Biko Hospital was another setback but a rediagnosis saw him suffering from spastic diplegia, affecting his right arm and leg.

A nightmare marital relationship and unstable working conditions caused Tiffany to get divorced in 2019, moving down to the KwaZulu-Natal village of Eston, moving in with her elder brother and working in her aunt and uncle’s family transport business.

With renewed family support behind her, Tyler was finally able to get a slot at Grey’s Hospital where he was operated on in March.

“The multiple operations on his legs took six hours and were followed by intense physiotherapy once the casts came off,” says Tiffany.

“Because of his age there was a very real risk that he might not be able to walk. We eventually thought that putting him into a school that caters for wheelchair-bound kids would be the best and he went to St Christopher’s, which is right next to Seals Swimming Club. My aunt, Kim, sent him to swimming lessons.”

And that’s where respected coach Odette Randelhoff took the plunge. She’s a highly experienced learn-to-swim teacher/junior coach and works closely with national coach Wayne Riddin, now with Team SA at the World Short-Course Championships in Australia. The two have shared a more than 30-year-old passion for bringing out the very best in their charges.

Says Randelhoff, herself the mom of three: “It was in September when I was asked if I teach special-needs kids, which of course I do and I said, yes, bring him along.

“He arrived, being pushed in his wheelchair with this nervous little smile on his face.

“I really didn’t know which way things would go, but I gave it my best effort. I was in the pool with the other kids and told him he was welcome to join us. So he carefully lowered himself out of his chair and sat on the side of the pool. I made eye contact and promised him that he would be safe and I’d never leave his side. There was an instant connection. He often tells me, ‘I’ll try to do whatever you ask me to, because I trust you Aunty Odette’.”

That trust has seen Tyler having the confidence to push himself and achieve more and more.

“His smile is totally infectious and his effort massive,” says coach Randelhoff. “His reward of playtime has him doing handstands in the pool and somersaults. I’m so excited about what the next season... and the next, and the next have in store for us.”

The Brummer boy’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. He received an unexpected video from one of SA’s greatest-yet swimmers, one Chad le Clos, all the way from Melbourne.

“Hey Tyler, it’s Chad here... I’m here with your coach Wayne and we’re just having our last swim before our racing starts tomorrow... I just want to say: awesome stuff, my friend — great to see what you’ve accomplished in the last couple of months. I’m giving you a little SA cap, a little present for Xmas and I hope you enjoy it.

“Keep up the great work and when I’m back in Maritzburg with Wayne I’ll be coming to have a swim with you! Keep up the good work, much love brother, stay strong!”

Tiffany is the proudest mother in the world now. “He was extremely nervous about swimming lessons but it’s been such great exercise. I’ve never seen him so happy as after his first lesson with Odette. He showed her his scars and she didn’t judge him, saying his scars are ‘cool’. She promised him she’d never leave him and that means the world to Tyler.”

Less than two months after his first swim, Tyler slowly walked to the car with his walking aid and told his mom that he’s done with his wheelchair, saying it doesn’t matter that he’s slow, he’ll get faster. His take is that he’s not disabled, he just has “different legs”.

So what does the super-seal think of his “water ways”? “I was scared at first, I really thought I was going to drown because I didn’t know how deep it was, but Aunty Odette made me feel so safe. She says it’s all right to feel nervous because then it means something.

“I felt like such a champion when they put the medal around my neck. Now I love being in the water. I can jump and run in the water. I feel free.”

This new kid on the starting blocks who has dreams of being a singer one day, has no sporting heroes. “My mom is my hero, because she protects me.”

And if that doesn’t make every normal-thinking South African’s heart sing with joy this festive season, not much will!