A WORKPLACE injury and vicious assault may have left Lepecka ‘Pex’ Nanai with only 3per cent vision, but he says the experiences have only made him stronger.
The Melton powerlifter, 32, won two gold medals at this month’s World Blind Powerlifting Championships in Florida.
“My life has been blessed. To be able to represent Australia was something I didn’t think was possible until now,” he says.
Quick to master powerlifting after taking up the sport in 2009, Mr Nanai has secured a weighty collection of medals and broken world records.
“I don’t know what it is, but it is a really awesome feeling to achieve that much weight,” he says.
But before he became a successful athlete, Mr Nanai battled alcoholism after sustaining trauma from a work accident and a train station assault in Dandenong.
“A rusted burst pipe sprayed acid and burnt both my eyes. My left eye was severely burnt and I only had 3per cent vision out of my left eye and 75per cent of my right eye.
“Then a year after, I was viciously bashed in the head … I was stabbed in my right eye with glass and they [doctors] took out my right eye.”
He says starting powerlifting and the support of his wife and family helped him break through.
“To numb the pain, every day I would have to get up and drink all over again to feel OK.
“I wouldn’t change a thing though, I am a lot stronger than before my accident, mentally. If there’s one thing I’d like to say [to people] it’s don’t put your disability in front of your ability.”
At competitions, Mr Nanai’s coach assists him to the starting position – but the rest is all his hard work.
“My coach takes me up to the platform and puts my hand on the bar and then I line myself up from there.” He now dreams of breaking world records in sighted competitions.
“I’ve only been doing it for three years. Hopefully, in the next couple of years, I’ll achieve something major in the sighted competitions.”
