Jethwa: Car Crash Survivor To Rally Driver

At one point or another in our lives we have talked about the frailty of life but it’s not until you meet someone who tells that story and lives it every day that it all becomes so much more real and personal.

Twenty Five years ago, everything changed for Sam Jethwa after he was involved in a car accident where he sustained severe spinal cord injury at the T10 level leaving him paralysed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.

As we caught up with Jethwa at CrossFit Kwetu, his vibrant personality, positive attitude and inspiring story left us all in dismay as he shared his tough journey to recovery and how he learnt to live and adjust to his new life after the accident.

A broken back doesn’t exactly inspire anyone to get up and be more active but for Jethwa, this is not case.

“The gym is the one place where I don’t have to think about anything, I’m able to decompress, clear my mind and feel better.

CrossFit Kwetu Trainer, Wilson Wanjohi

I want people to feel that if I can do it both physically and mentally, then they can do it too. If I can inspire and push someone to go out there and try something different that will be very rewarding for me because you only know what you can do when you try,” Said Sam Jethwa.

In 2003, Jethwa raced in the East Africa Classic Safari to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the National Spinal Injury Hospital in Nairobi raising US $14,000 in cash and kind. His life long dream is to do the Dakar rally one day and in so doing, be the first Kenyan and first person with disability from East Africa to do the Dakar Rally.

Sponsored