Nigerian Wins Gold Medal in Swimming at Special Olympics

Congratulations to Nigerian swimmer, Damola Roberts who won gold in this year’s Special Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA. Damola’s story is a truly inspiring one. The son of two medical doctors, he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome as a little child, and this led to his mother leaving her career so she could cater to his needs. She shared her story with Vanguard News in 2011. ‘’The doctors in UK told me he would never walk, and I came back to Nigeria with the doctors’ report in order to give room for a collective decision in the family. The family’s support has been a lot of encouragement to Damola. We have to develop coping strategies that will enable him learn what you want him to learn. For instance, in order to make him become a functional member of the society, we have to teach him how to dress himself, eat, greet, walk or comport himself in decent manners especially on general cleanliness of the body. At the end of the day, both of us were enrolled in a Kindergarten to make learning easier for him,’’ Dr. (Mrs.) Roberts said in her interview to Vanguard. He participated in the 2011 Special Olympics in Athens, and is now a gold medalist, making his country proud. We’re so proud of Damola!