Natalie Rotumah stood on the stand and covered her mouth with her hands, her face stiff and tense. As her daughter was about to run on a Paralympic track in the Bird's Nest, the mother prayed that she would run well and not fall.
Less than 20 meters away, the daughter, Tahlia, prepared herself for the sprint, loosening up her unsteady right leg. When her name was announced through the speaker, she raised her right arm, supported by a splint, to greet the spectators. She saw her mother, flashed a smile, and then refocused herself on the race.
The starting gunshot was fired, and the mother exploded into cheering, so did her husband, three other daughters and Tahlia's aunt. Tahlia pushed herself ahead, staggered at some point, and managed to pull the race off with a good run. The mother still had her eyes on her daughter who lingered at the finishing line congratulating her competitors. For both, it was a moment of relief.
Scenes of family support like this are common at the ongoing Beijing Paralympic Games. For the Paralympians, or probably any other sportsman, it not only takes hard training or carefully planned diets, but also the backing of a family, to realize their dreams.
Tahlia, 16, was born with haemiplegia, which affects her mobility on her right side. But the aboriginal Australian high school student, from Tweed Heads South in New South Wales, has worked through the impairment to become the country's elite runner in the sports for the disabled.
"I'm very honored to be part of my country in such a way. I thank my family and friends. They think so highly of me. I felt like I've won a gold medal just being here," Tahlia told Xinhua after the race on Thursday.
It was her Paralympic debut, and almost her whole family were here to bear witness. The mother Natalie forked out 20,000 Australian dollars from their house deposit to fund their Beijing trip. "We support her any way, any time, 100 percent," Natalie told Xinhua from the stand.