Mohamad Ridzuan was born with a disability but now standing tall in the eyes of the world - Father

Mohamad Ridzuan's father was speechless and choked with emotion when his son who was born with disabilities was the pride of the nation in the Rio Paralympics and stood tall in the eyes of the world.

Mohd Puzi Mat Isa, 59, was at a loss for words and overcome by emotion after finding out that his son Mohamad Ridzuan had won a gold medal in the men's 100m T36 event at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday (Saturday in Rio).

Similarly, Mohamad Ridzuan was lost for words at the prize presentation ceremony and overcome by emotion since he started crying uncontrollably, according to National Paralympics head coach for athletics, R. Jeganathan.

"The entire family is proud and grateful for the achievement of Ridzuan. Blessed with the spirit of perseverance, he trained tireless to give himself a better future as he was born with cerebral palsy," he said when contacted by Bernama here today.

Mohd Puzi also thanked all parties who assisted his second son and provided the encouragement he needed.

"Especially to Am (Affizam Amdan), a voluntary coach, who first spotted my son's potential and guided him since 2006 and he is still giving advice until today," he said.

"The federal and state governments were also extremely concerned with his development as well as training and financial needs, a big thank you to all of you," he said.

Mohd Puzi said he hoped Redzuan would continue to shine in the future and keep his focus and interest in sports.

"I am pleased he (Redzuan) is now independent. Before this, I was always worried about his fate when my wife and I are not around. But the blessings of Allah was the best for him though I will continue to support and pray for his success," he said.

At the Rio Paralympics, Mohamad Ridzuan bolted to the finish line in 12.07 seconds in the men's 100m T36 event ahead of Yang Yifei of China (12.20s) and Rodrigo Parreira da Silva of Brazil (12.54s).

Malaysia's best Paralympic showing was a silver and a bronze medal in 1992.

Mohamad Ridzuan gave Malaysia its first ever Paralympic gold medal while the second gold medal came from Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli with a new world record in the men's shot put F20 (intellectual disability). -- BERNAMA