Life is about adapting, everyday I am adapting to society

Palesa Manaleng was born in Polokwane (Limpopo) she was raised by her Grandmother, and later moved to Witbank in Mpumalanga to stay with her parents.

“I am a qualified journalist and I love writing short stories, I have actually been published by the Johannesburg Reveal Books.” Says Manaleng

On 10 September 2014 Manaleng had a cycling accident that changed her life. It was her normal day off; she had just joined eNCA and was there for two weeks in the new job.

“I went for a run and I came back, started cleaning and I looked outside and decided to take Dolly (bicycle) for a ride around my block, I was going down on a very steep hill and I was going fast and I realized that my bricks were not working, I couldn’t brake and I hit the pavement, and flew at the palisade wall.” says Manaleng

She dislocated her spine, broke two ribs, fractured a shoulder and sustained a head injury and she was paralyzed at the scene. Manaleng’s life changed, she is a complete paraplegic as she may never walk again but she still plays sports as she grew up playing all kinds of sports including soccer, cycling, tennis, hockey, running, to name a few. She is a national athlete as she has been representing South Africa in para-cycling since 2015, she has been in three world cups representing South Africa in 2015, 2016 and in 2019 she was ranked 8th in South Africa and 23rd in the world.

"Palesa Manaleng" Image supplied.


“Life is about adapting, every day I am adapting to society. It took me a while to accept that I will be paralyzed forever,” says Manaleng

Whilst in hospital Manaleng told herself that she doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone including her parents and siblings, so she quickly learned to do things on her own as she also feared going back home to stay with family because she felt that she was too independent.

Manaleng is also passionate about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-sexual, and Intersex community (LGBTI). She says the LGBTI community needs to open up more to differently-abled individuals especially when organizing function’s as most disabled people feel out of place.

“I want to compete for as long as I physically can, as long as my body allows me to push it hard in order to keep representing SA and I hope the sport can develop and we see more people of color participating in this sport.” Concludes Manaleng

"Palesa Manaleng in one of her Para-cycling competitions" Image supplied.

By: Thobela Sibiya




 

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