Impossible: This 6-year-old Boy was Born Without Arms But is Now a Swimming Champion (Photos)

A really young boy has defied the odds to become a swimming champion despite being born without any arms at all.

Ismail Zulfic

 

Ismail Zulfic is a six-year-old who hasn’t had things easy because he was born without arms and a deformed foot.

 

The young boy lives in Bosnia, where those with disabilities face marginalisation and minimal resources

 

But thanks to swimming classes provided for children with disabilities, Ismail is finding a sense of purpose – through doing something he loves.

 

At first Ismail was terrified of water.

 

 

His parents took him to a free swimming class called Spid, created by Amel Kapo, a sports graduate who launched the sessions without any state support to give children with disabilities a place where they could discover what they’re capable of.

 

‘Yes, their bodies might be different,’ said Amel. ‘But if you give them an opportunity to prove themselves they know how to take it and use it.

‘My goal was to bring children with disabilities into the open.'

 

 

Amel helped Ismail overcome his fear of water as well as his physical limitations, teaching him to swim.

 

His parents can hardly afford to drive Ismail to his swimming lessons twice a week, so Spid has been helping to cover the cost of fuel and his swimming gear to allow Ismail to keep learning.

 

Ismail has now won a gold medal at a regional competition for disabled swimmers, and hopes to compete in the world para-swimming championships that will be held in Germany later this year.

 

 

His achievements have earned the attention of the Swim Strong Foundation, a charity in New York, whose founder, Shawn Slevin, has since traveled to Sarajevo to give Ismail and other children extra training.

 

‘When (disabled children) can see that they can do as anyone else can do, it lifts their confidence level,’ says Shawn. ‘Then there is nothing they cannot do.’

 

Ismail is proof of the difference swimming classes can make.

 

He’s grown in confidence and self-belief, and feels ready to take on all the challenges he’ll face when he enters school this year.

 

‘You can learn a lot from him,’ says Ismail’s dad, Ismet. ‘You can learn how to appreciate life – your own life but also the lives of other.

‘[He’s] a real fighter.’