At just 22 years old, a young man with autism has defied the odds and achieved something remarkable — he is now a qualified pool lifeguard.
His journey, marked by perseverance, personal growth, and unwavering determination, is a powerful reminder that challenges don’t define your potential.
Jacques Scheepers from Kensington is one of a group of young people who recently completed a 10-week course to obtain their internationally recognised pool lifesaving certificates through Warobile Lifesaving Aquatics Academy.
The Maitland based academy was founded by resident Keith Abrahams a few years ago to keep the youth off the street and get them water wiser.
Abrahams explains that 10 youngsters completed the pool lifesaving and coaching course while 16 completed an emergency first aid responder course.
Jacques’ mother, Cheryl, says they discovered her son was on the spectrum at a young age.
However, they always allowed him to be himself.
“He is shy and doesn’t engage with anyone. But he is self-sufficient, he can take care of himself. He can cook and clean. He is just not able to read,” she explains.
The mother of three says her son took an interest in swimming in January this year.
“We always asked him whether he wanted to join the swimming programme, and he didn’t want to. We didn’t force him.
“In January, he took an interest in swimming and enrolled for the lifeguard course. At first, he didn’t tell us how his swimming lessons were going.
“I think this was because of lack of confidence. When everyone started telling him how well he was doing, he then started sharing with us.”
She says when the family left for New Zealand in March he missed out on about six weeks of lessons. I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to catch up on the lessons he missed.
“But he pushed every day. No matter the weather. I had to go with him and be his dummy model in the pool. Then he would dive to come and save me. His dad and I always encouraged him.”
Scheepers explains that when the students had to write their assessments, she and her husband had to support Jacques.
“It took hours to sit and read with him because he could not read. My husband would sit and work with him for the theory exams.”
But with the support of his family Jacques has turned obstacles into stepping stones, proving that with the right support and a strong spirit, anything is possible.
On Friday 25 July, he received his certificate as a qualified pool lifeguard.
“I am proud of myself. I was working very hard. I want to be a lifeguard coach and teach children how to swim. I want to go overseas and find a job there.”
Encouraging young people Jacques said: “Study hard, pray hard and focus. Keep your eye on your goal.”
The mother says she is proud of her son’s achievement.
“I didn’t expect this. It was a proud moment. I have two other children who achieved well academically. He is anti-social so whenever we went to a pool he would sit all day and look at everyone.
“We never thought water will become his passion. Neither of his siblings can outswim him or do the things that he can do in a pool.”
She urged parents to support their children.
“Parents mustn’t think that because they have this condition that there’s things that they can’t do. I allow him to do whatever he wants to as long as it’s not dangerous. They know their capabilities and they know what they want. So, we push them into all the avenues that they want to go into.”
Scheepers expressed her gratitude to the coaches for the time and patience.
Abrahams said he is proud of the group’s achievement. “It was a momentous day as our students received their well-deserved accolades for their hard work, commitment, and sacrifice.”
He said the academy aims to equip the youth with skills so that they can be employable.
They will soon provide workshops in various skills, such as plumbing, electrical work, computer literacy, law enforcement, traffic management, firefighting, surf lifesaving, and driver’s education.
“We need transport to drive young people to and from the pools. I am a pensioner and everything that I do is for free, so I need support. I am appealing to local businesses to partner with us. We also need more coaches to come on board.”
“I’d like to extend my gratitude to the parents and guardians for entrusting their children to our programmes. A huge thank you to our partners, Isuzu Foundation, Reeds N1 City and Marvan van Zyl for spearheading this initiative and sponsoring these projects.”
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