Balancing her studies with her career as Paralympic cyclist has been a greater challenge for Roxy Burns (26) than coping with her disability while studying at Stellenbosch University (SU).
Roxy, who is busy with her honours degree in Education, has Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT), a rare, genetic, progressive disorder that manifests as a combination of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and immune disorders.
Both her parents happen to have the recessive gene that causes this condition and Roxy's 22-year-old brother James, a BSc Geo-informatics student, also suffers from AT.
Although the original diagnosis sounded bleak – most AT sufferers are in a wheelchair by the time they are 10 and many of them don't reach the age of 20 – it has since been discovered that the Burns siblings have an atypical, mild version of this disorder.
Roxy mainly has to deal with symptoms of cerebral palsy – problems with balance, coordination and fatigue – and this hasn't stopped her from getting her degree or performing on the international cycling stage.
"I don't need much help to be independent," Roxy says. "I'm blessed to have AT so mildly. In fact, I'm grateful that I'm disabled. People find it strange when I say that, but I wouldn't have had so many opportunities or have met so many people from all over the world otherwise."
She matriculated from Rhenish Girl's High in 2006 and went straight to SU where she studied and completed a BA degree in Sport Science.
"The only understanding regarding my disability I needed from the University was that my handwriting was terrible and I that wrote slowly which meant I was granted extra writing time for tests and exams. Also, with the practicals required for Sport Science my lecturers had to know that I got tired quicker than the average student."
To make time for her cycling she spread her modules over a number of years and finally graduated in March 2011. "Because of cycling I had to make use of the second exam opportunity in November 2010, thereby missing the cut-off date for the December graduation. I also just made my graduation. Our flight from Italy, where I had been competing, was delayed by nine hours so I attended my graduation straight from the airport," she recalls.
"Currently I'm studying towards my honours in Education and again I extended my degree over two years for training purposes. I still make use of the extra time for tests and exams and I use a computer for exam purposes. This is for my benefit and also for the benefit of the people who have to mark my answers sheets, because now they don't have to deal with my handwriting," she jokes.
Her cycling career started at the beginning of her high school career and her first international competition was the Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation Association World Championships held in the USA in 2005. She hasn't looked back since.
"I specialise in track cycling (para-cycling) and am currently ranked sixth in the world. There are five bicycle classes, C1 to C5, with C1 being the most severely disabled and C5 the least affected," she explains. She was recently reclassed from C4 to C3.
Roxy represented South Africa at the Beijing and London Paralympic Games and describes both as an amazing experience. "The atmosphere in especially London was electric and the stadium was packed. The crowd cheered for every single rider."
Her eye is now firmly set on Rio 2016. She competes in the 500m time trial and 3 000m individual pursuit events on the track, but is specifically focusing on the 500m time trail event as that is where she believes she has the greatest chance of winning a medal.
Her advice to other disabled athletes is: "Give your all and work as hard as you are able to get what you want."
