DUBAI // A father and son team will be taking part in the Dubai International Triathlon to raise awareness of special needs.
Britons Nick Watson and his 11-year-old son Rio, who has a rare condition that affects his chromosomes, hope their efforts will help to change attitudes in the UAE to people with disabilities and special needs.
“The key thing we would like to get across for this event is that people with disabilities and special needs are an important part of our society,” said 44-year-old Mr Watson, who founded the Children’s Media Network and manages PearlFM, which caters for toddlers to 12-year-olds as well as parents.
“Things are slowly beginning to change in the UAE but, hopefully, by doing these kinds of things people will become more comfortable with people with special needs in society.”
Rio’s condition is so unusual that at first doctors thought it may be genetic.
“Rio’s condition is extremely rare as he has part of a chromosome missing,” said Mr Watson.
“It’s called 1Q44 deletion and it means he needs 24-hour care because it affects his motor skills and he has difficulty communicating.”
When Rio was six months old he began to have seizures but his condition baffled medical experts and it was not until he was about five that the condition was diagnosed by a Harley Street specialist in London.
“The reason I’m doing the event is primarily to spend some time with Rio and for father and son to do something together,” Mr Watson said. “The event is open to anyone of any ability and my plan is to bring Rio along with me for each section.”
The Dubai International Triathlon involves a 1.9-kilometre swim, 90km bike ride and a 21km run.
The race is slightly more complicated for Mr Watson because he will be with Rio. That means for the swim he will be attached to a kayak with Rio in it, while for the run and bicycle sections he will be using a specially adapted bike and push chair.
Training for the swim did not go according to plan last week when Rio decided to jump out of the kayak.
“I was swimming out with Rio but then got caught up in some jelly fish when Rio decided he wanted to jump into the water as well,” Mr Watson said.
“Fortunately, the jelly fish weren’t dangerous, although I did get stung, but Rio was fine.
“He loves being out in the water and we’ve come to realise that whenever I stop swimming he takes it as a signal to jump in.
“For the race we will have a couple of people on paddleboards with us to make sure everything is safe and we’ll have people with us for the other sections as well.”
A custom-made bicycle is expected to arrive from Belgium in the next couple of days.
“I haven’t done any special training for the event and our plan is to enjoy the day out and raise as much awareness as possible of children with special needs,” Mr Watson said.
The triathlon is the first of a series of events that he hopes to be taking part in with Rio and his family.
“My seven-year-old daughter Tia is already counting the days to the colour run at the end of November in Dubai and we have a lot of other stuff planned,” Mr Watson said.
The family as a whole have been very active in raising awareness of special needs – they organise the annual Reaching You Party in the Park at Zabeel Park.
The event is an opportunity for people with special needs to mix and make friends with able-bodied people.
The Dubai International Triathlon takes place at Atlantis the Palm on November 7.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/reachingyoudubai.