An Unlikely Sportsman

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Abstract

At that time the Catholic church accepted young boys into what was called a preparatory seminary. Children who had a “vocation” lived as boarders in the pre-seminary in Kuala Lumpur and attended St. John’s Institution for their academic education. After school they received further instruction in things Catholic and spiritual to feed their nascent vocation. It did emerge that a few of these boys actually made it all the way to the major seminary and were ordained as Catholic priests.My parents were of course sad for my brother to leave home but were at the same time happy that one of their sons had a priestly vocation. After consulting with the parish priest, they agreed to him leaving home and entering the preparatory seminary. They drove him the sixty miles to Kuala Lumpur, helped him settle into his dormitory and drove home. By then they believed he was sufficiently able to look after his heart condition himself and refrain from any strenuous activities.In those days, television had only recently been introduced in Malaysia in black and white. There were only a few programs available such as Circus Boy, Lassie and The Lone Ranger. They also predominantly showed a lot of local news and sports. One evening while we were all watching television at home they showed a clip of St. John’s Institution’s annual cross country event. We saw boys from the school running the event. One particular participant looked very familiar. It was my younger brother running with abandon!The next morning, my parents got into the car and drove to the pre-seminary. A few hours later, they returned with my brother and his belongings. It came to light that a main # Options reason he was interested in going to the pre-seminary was so he could be free of the physical restrictions placed on him at home. After that incident my parents decided to allow him to take part in sports and activities, trusting him to look after himself and to know when to quit.My brother went on to become the best sportsman in the family. He excelled in athletics and tennis in school and was invited by Malacca High School to enter their pre-university program purely on the strength of his tennis prowess. When he started work after school, he took up squash as well. If you have played squash, you know how strenuous the game is.My brother immigrated to Canada with his family in 1988 where he took up road cycling up and down mountain roads. He also became a keen outdoorsman, taking his family camping and hiking across Canada. It was while he was in Canada that doctors advised him to consider heart surgery to correct his medical problem. In 1992, at the age of 40 he had his aortic valve replaced with an artificial titanium valve. He continued being very active after his surgery.Today at age 70 he still cycles, plays pickleball three times a week and even takes part in tournaments. Now retired, he is also an avid gardener and cook. He is still strong in his Faith — just not a priest!If you are not a member of Medium, please consider using <a href="/@geradcarrier/membership?source=about_page----------------------------------------">this link to join</a>. I get a small commission which will not increase the cost of your membership and you get full access to all the writing on Medium. Thank you for your support.</article></body>

Excelling against the odds.

Image by Rhonda Carrier (The author and his brother)

My youngest brother was a blue baby. He was born with a congenital heart disorder. At a young age his diagnosis was pulmonary stenosis, the narrowing of the pulmonary valve. The doctors warned my parents to be careful he did not overexert. Later in his mid teens, doctors confirmed that it was aortic stenosis instead of pulmonary stenosis. So, from the time he was little he was not allowed to run hard or play sports.

When it came time for him to go to school, we were living on the island of Pulau Bukom off Singapore. While my other brother and I took the ferry to Catholic school each morning, my parents decided to keep him close to them at the school on the island. The principal and teachers were given strict instructions that he was not to take part in physical education or sports.

We learned to be protective of him and whenever we played as children, we knew to make sure he did not do anything he was not allowed to.

When he was 13 years old and we were living in Port Dickson, he confided to our parents that he had a strong desire to be a Catholic priest. This did not surprise anyone as he was always playing the role of priest when he was little, pretending to say mass, giving out communion using paper thin wafer biscuits which my little sisters loved so they were always willing to play along, even to the extent of going to him for confession!

At that time the Catholic church accepted young boys into what was called a preparatory seminary. Children who had a “vocation” lived as boarders in the pre-seminary in Kuala Lumpur and attended St. John’s Institution for their academic education. After school they received further instruction in things Catholic and spiritual to feed their nascent vocation. It did emerge that a few of these boys actually made it all the way to the major seminary and were ordained as Catholic priests.

My parents were of course sad for my brother to leave home but were at the same time happy that one of their sons had a priestly vocation. After consulting with the parish priest, they agreed to him leaving home and entering the preparatory seminary. They drove him the sixty miles to Kuala Lumpur, helped him settle into his dormitory and drove home. By then they believed he was sufficiently able to look after his heart condition himself and refrain from any strenuous activities.

In those days, television had only recently been introduced in Malaysia in black and white. There were only a few programs available such as Circus Boy, Lassie and The Lone Ranger. They also predominantly showed a lot of local news and sports. One evening while we were all watching television at home they showed a clip of St. John’s Institution’s annual cross country event. We saw boys from the school running the event. One particular participant looked very familiar. It was my younger brother running with abandon!

The next morning, my parents got into the car and drove to the pre-seminary. A few hours later, they returned with my brother and his belongings. It came to light that a main reason he was interested in going to the pre-seminary was so he could be free of the physical restrictions placed on him at home. After that incident my parents decided to allow him to take part in sports and activities, trusting him to look after himself and to know when to quit.

My brother went on to become the best sportsman in the family. He excelled in athletics and tennis in school and was invited by Malacca High School to enter their pre-university program purely on the strength of his tennis prowess. When he started work after school, he took up squash as well. If you have played squash, you know how strenuous the game is.

My brother immigrated to Canada with his family in 1988 where he took up road cycling up and down mountain roads. He also became a keen outdoorsman, taking his family camping and hiking across Canada. It was while he was in Canada that doctors advised him to consider heart surgery to correct his medical problem. In 1992, at the age of 40 he had his aortic valve replaced with an artificial titanium valve. He continued being very active after his surgery.

Today at age 70 he still cycles, plays pickleball three times a week and even takes part in tournaments. Now retired, he is also an avid gardener and cook. He is still strong in his Faith — just not a priest!

If you are not a member of Medium, please consider using this link to join. I get a small commission which will not increase the cost of your membership and you get full access to all the writing on Medium. Thank you for your support.