KUCHING, Sarawak para-swimmer Ng Jia Tak never lost the will to excel in whatever he does despite losing his right leg in a road accident in 2020. And it was his will of steel that saw him deliver a silver for hosts Sarawak at the 2024 Malaysia Para Games (Para SUKMA) here today. The 22-year-old also said that his attitude of ignoring the ridicule of others had made him a patient person as he tried to find a purpose by taking up swimming two years ago. "I was taking my sister back from school on my motorcycle when I was involved in an accident in Batu Kawa in 2020. They had to amputate my right leg because of a severe infection. "I was hospitalised for a month after the surgery. No doubt, sometimes I would be sad because I lost my right leg but I always tried to be cheerful and believed in myself and that's how I took up swimming seriously until I became a state swimmer,' he told Bernama after the medal presentation ceremony at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre. Jia Tak clocked 1 minute and 36.55 seco nds (s) to take silver in the men's 100-metre (m) backstroke S9 (physical impairment) category as Selangor's Muhammad Safwan Suhaimi clinched gold in 1:19.09s. Muhammad Safwan's time is a new Games record as it erased the previous mark of 1:20.61s set by Sabah's Jaflee Jikol in the previous edition. Sabah's Louis Simun took bronze in 1:43.02s. Jia Tak, the second of four siblings, was thrilled to bits after winning a silver in his maiden appearance in the biennial Games. "Proud because (I) got a medal for Sarawak, my home ground. Even when I was competing just now, I kept telling myself 'Go Sarawak Go',' he said. Source: BERNAMA News Agency
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