KUCHING: Despite being hurt by the cynicism of people around her, Sarawak's Jennyla Kueh managed to rise up and end her long wait for a gold medal at the Para Malaysia Games (Para SUKMA) here today.
Jennyla, who works as a seamstress in Ampang, Selangor, said she went through difficult times to ensure that her efforts to contribute a medal in the women's javelin event F55/F56/F57 (physical impairment) for her beloved state bear fruit at the biennial games.
Her throw of 11.81 metres beat Perlis's Feelzah Abdullah (10.96m) who took the silver and Sarawak's Siti Nurmala Brahim who won the bronze (8.52m).
"Honestly, the way people talked around me used to make me feel down. It is not easy to hold two roles at the same time, balancing a career as a tailor and an athlete. As a disabled person, it is also difficult to get work.
"I had to lift myself up, I could not wait for people to do that for me," she told Bernama after the medal presentation ceremony at the Sarawak Stadium.
The athlete from Bau said she was willing to make the sacrifice of taking three weeks unpaid leave to fully focus on her seventh Para Sukma appearance.
Jennyla said that she had previously faced difficulty in getting permission to undergo training from her employer despite having a clearance letter from the Sarawak State Youth and Sports Department.
Jennyla, who won silver in the discus yesterday, is hoping to win another gold in the shot put tomorrow.– BERNAMA