These twins, Riaan and Christo Badenhorst were born with CP. Their mother did not know she was carrying twins as they lay so perfectly on each other that their heart beats showed as one until she went into early labor 7 months into her pregnancy. She was told that her babies would never survive. The little fighters proved the doctors wrong and fought against these odds but did end up having to live with CP.
They attended a normal high school after being in a special school through their primary years. Mum felt that they could not compete with the disabled group they were put with and although they struggled to fit in they made it through a normal high school, not without challenges but they did make it. They do believe having each other helped them get through some really difficult times. They were not able to play any touch sport in school and although they loved rugby and could not play they were there every single weekend on the field supporting their teams. Riaan & Christo have a great cycling record. They do not have sponsorship to participate in cycling events as much as they would like to but they certainly have strong hearts for cycling and it excites them that they can compete and ride with strong abled bodies.
Individually they may not be strong but together on a tandem they have proven to be powerful. IMAGINE has chosen to sponsor Riaan and Christo’s ride in the Argus 2015 and we are looking for sponsorship to cover their flight and accommodation costs. We appeal to anyone that can assist in any way to please contact karey.hawley@imaginecharity.com – please help us keep these amazing twins on their bikes.