Paralympic

When Zyw was diagnosed with MND, he was working as a sommelier and wine buyer in London. His first symptom was his left thumb going numb.

Initially misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome, Zyw “had no reason to think about this impossible, improbable diagnosis at the time”.

A third of those diagnosed with the devastating disease die within a year, half die within two. Zyw is one of the “lucky ones”.

While his disease has progressed slowly, he has now lost most of the functionality in his hands, and the muscles in his upper body are wasting away.

A return to snowboarding was one of the positives in the dark aftermath of his diagnosis.

Having learned to snowboard as a child on a dry slope in Edinburgh, he competed as a freestyler into his early 20s before a knee injury put paid to that.

“I learned very quickly that the only aspect of this diagnosis in my control is my attitude towards it,” he added.

“I couldn’t affect how quickly the disease was going to manifest itself, how quickly I was going to fall off a cliff, how quickly I was going to lose motor functions.

“When I held on to that positive message, every day became easier and that’s what I’ve done every day since.”

The Davy Zyw Fan Club has been out in full force at the Games, flying British and Scottish flags and donning blue beanies emblazoned with his surname to watch him in action.

On a bus up to the snowboard park, an impromptu chant of “No Davy, No Party” sounded out, renditions of which carried on throughout the day.

Among those singing course-side were Zyw’s wife Yvie and four-year-old son Aleksander, who was “shouting his head off in celebration and admiration” as his daddy whizzed past during the opening run.

That race, however, did not end as he had hoped – in hospital with two broken ribs after a heavy crash, having already injured his knee in official training.

Such is the pain from his broken ribs, he cannot laugh nor sneeze but nothing was going to stop him being back in the start gate for Friday’s banked slalom.

In that, he finished 19th – but that is irrelevant. This Paralympic experience was never about the medals or results.

“Two years ago I wouldn’t have been classifiable as a Para-athlete and in two years’ time I’m not going to be a competitive snowboarder,” he said.

“So I’m in this sort of tragic period of my diagnosis where I’m ill enough to be classified as a Para-athlete, but well enough to still be able to rip down on my snowboard.

“I’m grateful for the fact that the Games have come at this moment, because in a few years’ time it wouldn’t have been possible.”

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Patrick Halgren, the self-proclaimed “rock star” of the Milan Cortina Paralympics, said he could feel the presence of his late twin brother in his silver medal-winning Para alpine ski run on Monday.

“He made this happen for real. He is the ski god and he has blessed me with speed today,” Halgren said of his brother Lucas Sven Halgren.

Lucas Sven died in a motorcycle accident in New Zealand in 2016, three years after Patrick nearly died and lost most of his left leg in another motorcycle accident.

Patrick has been plastering blue-and-yellow stickers that read “ SvendIt ” around Cortina d’Ampezzo, a play on “send-it,” which is Patrick’s mantra on life and a reference to his brother who went by Sven.

“He’s the reason I’m here. I’m just a vessel to cram love and combat hate down your throats. He inspired me to live life, but life is fragile. You can die,” Patrick said. “It’s all for him. It’s for my family. It’s for the people that have struggled. He’s dead. I’m here living, talking to you guys. I’m going to have who knows how many women and champagne after this. He liked that, too, but he doesn’t get that, and I do. I recognize that.”

Halgren celebrated in front of his parents, Peter and Kathy, which he said was “pretty cool.”

“But also, it sucks not having Sven here, so ups and downs,” the 33-year-old Halgren said after winning his first medal in his second Paralympics appearance.

“They went to Tijuana, Mexico, for their honeymoon 50 years ago. They picked up their dead kid in New Zealand, and they’ve watched me win the Paralympics at the most beautiful ski valley in the world,” Halgren told the Olympics website. “This is a surreal moment for them. This is an experience that will create a memory lasting a lifetime and such a good moment.”

Halgren said it was Sven who steered him to Para alpine skiing after the 2013 crash that nearly killed him and resulted in the above-the-knee amputation of his left leg.

“I died myself. I was in a coma for a month. I died four times,” he said. “They used a defibrillator to start my heart. Blood transfusion. I get it, and I’m lucky that I have that because I know what it’s like. Not many people do.”

Now it’s hard not to miss Halgren, and not only because of his long braids that are dyed red, white and blue. Always entertaining and joking with those around him, the outspoken American has taken on a showman personality at the Games.

At the podium ceremony, he performed an air guitar solo using his crutch. He said it was just “another Monday” for him.

“I am a rock star,” he added. “I always wanted to be this guy, Jim Brown, he was my idol. He was a professional football player, played lacrosse at Syracuse. I did both those sports, and he retired at the peak of his career and became basically the first Black action movie star. I always wanted to be him, and now I am him.”

Halgren said he “learned to be un-irritable, un-embarrassable.”

“It’s about being vulnerable in this life. It’s about trying things and failing. It’s OK to be embarrassed. It’s OK to look weird.”

As he talked to the media, Halgren was congratulated by nearly every rival that passed by. He was second to Switzerland’s Robin Cuche in the men’s super-G standing.

“Medals don’t mean anything to me. The love from all the people supporting me is what means anything to me,” he said. “I can feel, I can literally feel all the people who have ever given me well wishes and ‘Thanks’ and ‘Good lucks.’ I can feel them loving me and they’re the reason I won.

“You celebrate the victories the same as the defeats. I’ve been blessed to have to develop my character over the last 11 years, losing my leg and could either roll over and die, or I could become the greatest Patrick Halgren on Earth, and that’s what you’re seeing.”

His future plans?

“I would like to dominate the Earth in every category with one leg.”

Anything else? “My horse is thirsty, I’m out.”