Aishah’s got the Asian Para Games in her sights

SINGAPORE — Aishah Samad and her new B-Bionic V3 arms have gone prawn fishing and cooking, and she has even tried lifting a 10kg bag of rice. A miracle, given that two years ago, her life was transformed by a bacterial infection that saw doctors amputate all her limbs.

Now, the former national shooter is back in the shooting range and gearing up for her first competitive appearance at the Asian Para Games in Incheon next month. She will take part in the women’s 10m air rifle prone in the SH2 class.

Unlike 1970s television heroine the Bionic Woman — who could run at super-human speeds and leap over walls with her bionic limbs —Aishah’s robotic appendages do not make her a superhero, but her tale of comeback from tragedy is no less heroic.

In July 2012, Aishah was on a 10-day vacation in China when she developed severe stomach cramps. On her return to Singapore, she was rushed to Changi General Hospital. Struck down by streptococcus (a bacterical infection), Aishah was given a less than 20 per cent chance of survival as septic shock caused major organ failure. Gangrene set in and she lost all four limbs.

A charity event last May helped raise S$130,000 to fit Aishah with bionic arms and prosthetic legs.

While the divorced mother-of-two is enjoying her new lease of life, she admitted her first outing at the shooting range in May was far from perfect.

“Holding the gun again was totally beyond my imagination,” said the 41-year-old, who was a bronze medallist in the women’s team 50m rifle prone at the 2003 SEA Games. “As a shooter, the sport was always easy for me and I thought it would be the same in my condition. But I was wrong. I was struggling with my positioning and shooting. I used to be a perfectionist ... and my expectations were too high.”

Aishah, who retired from the able-bodied national team seven years ago, took part in her first para competition last week, and she laughed about her experience competing in the women’s 10m air rifle.

“It’s funny because the rules have changed and you have less time to finish your shots now,” she said.

“I was still chatting with a friend when the others started their sighting shots, my chair and rifle were not ready, I wasn’t in my jacket.

“My right hand went crazy when I was lining up my sighting shot; it was opening and closing on its own because I was so excited.

“But I put down my rifle, calmed down, and hit a bullseye in my first sighting shot and that boosted my confidence. I just kept shooting, finished my 40 shots in time and did 99.9 in the last series.”

The para shooter will represent Singapore at the Asian Para Games after she was granted a wildcard entry to the Oct 18 to 24 event in South Korea. But Aishah’s long-term goal is to get back into her pet event, the 50m rifle prone, as she makes her bid for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Aishah will join Team Singapore’s able-bodied and para athletes at the flag presentation ceremony at the Sports Hub today, and she said: “I was cooking at home when they (the Singapore Disability Sport Council) called me to tell me I was in and I wanted to jump. There are only eight shooters in my SH2 category … I am aiming for a top-five spot, and maybe I can get a bronze or silver.”

Now a full-time motivational speaker, Aishah is well aware that the road to Rio will be not be easy, but it is fair to say that she is used to winning against the odds.