She’s special because she says I’m not

In Hyderabad, she’s sensitive to her surroundings and eager to do something about it. ‘‘We’ve been put up at a posh hotel. All we see are Nike and Adidas showrooms. I want to go and see the actual conditions here and meet the people if there is time after my events’’, she said.

It’s a feistiness typical of Du Toit. When she lost her left leg in a car accident two years ago, Natalie had two options: she could roll over and play dead, or she could get up and fight her way out of her disability. She chose the latter —‘‘I wanted to get on with life’’ — and was back in the pool a week after her release from hospital.

She began talking about her experiences on lecture tours around South Africa, the only sportsperson from outside football, cricket and rugby (though her tours are managed by former South African international cricketer David Rundle). Indeed, Natalie says she doesn’t see her sport as an event to win or lose; it’s an opportunity to be a better person. Her lectures — to audiences as diverse as businessmen, shoolchildren and clergy — helped her cope with the mental trauma. ‘‘By giving others hope, some of it comes back to me’’, she said.

Evidence of that was seen at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Manchester, at which Natalie made history when she qualified for the final of the 800 metres freestyle — the first time in history that an elite athlete with disability has qualified for the final of an able-bodied event.

While she’s studying Genetics at university, her immediate aim is to qualify for the 2004 Olympics — she needs to shave off 23 seconds from her current timing. But she’s set her sight on a bigger goal: ‘‘I want to run and cycle again. That’s what I really want to do.’’