When Australian BMX rider Saya Sakakibara claimed gold in Paris, she did so wearing her brother’s number on her bike and on her heart. Now, he is set to create his own redemption story after a near-death experience.
The fact that Saya ever got back on a BMX ever again is testament to her strength and devotion to her brother Kai.
In 2020, Kai’s world collapsed when he fell in the opening heat at a BMX World Cup event in Canberra.
The older of the two siblings, he was aiming for a medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics alongside his sister before the lead-up event nearly turned into tragedy.
He sustained head injuries and was airlifted to hospital, where surgeons operated to reduce the pressure on his brain. Kai was then placed in a medically induced coma for the next two months.
Doctors had grave doubts about his survival.
This injury impaired his speech and movement on the right side of his body, forcing him to relearn essential life skills and into a premature retirement from the sport.
While he survived, the family was rocked when lighting struck twice.
Saya’s inspirational Paris Olympics gold medal was dedicated to her brother Kai
There were emotional scenes as the Sakakibara siblings embraced following the race
Kai and Saya Sakakibara as children with Dutch motocross legend Robert de Wilde
Saya made it to the Tokyo Olympics but suffered a severe concussion after colliding with another rider and was stretchered away in harrowing scenes. .
It left her terrified to her core and uncertain whether she would either compete again. On Saturday, she conquered her fear and with her brother watching in the stands and riding on her shoulders, won a gold medal drenched in emotion.
She found her brother in the crowd and gave him the biggest of bear hugs, tears streaming down her cheeks in heart-wrenching scenes at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines circuit.
Kai spoke warmly of his sister’s bravery.
‘It felt just like getting the medal myself. She just did it perfectly and I felt like I was part of her,’ he said.
‘So I would like to thank her for that.’
And the tears flowed as Saya spoke of how her brother had inspired her at every point of her Olympic journey.
‘None of this would have happened without Kai, without him push me to be the best I can be,’ she said.
‘Without him introducing me into the sport, without him pushing me along, and just everything. I owe so much to him. I feel like I am so indebted to him.’
Kai suffered a major brain trauma and had to re-learn simple tasks like talking and walking
Kai was left prone on the track in Canberra in 2020 after crashing in a lead-up race to Tokyo
In shocking scenes, Kaya was stretchered from the track just months after her brother’s crash
Kai has a long journey ahead of him.
‘I was in a coma for two months and had a craniectomy to reduce the pressure on my brain,’ he told Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia.
After a further eight months in the brain injury ward at Liverpool hospital I moved to a TLU (Transitional Living Unit) where I spent the next six months.
‘I had to learn to do everything again; walking, talking, eating, learning how to cross the road, how to make shopping lists and go shopping.
‘Literally everything. Recovery is hard and would not have been possible without help from doctors, nurses, therapists and family.’
But his Olympic ambition still burns brightly and he has found a new sporting love through his rehabilitation – rowing. A passion he hopes will carry him all the way to the Paralympics.
‘I wanted to get back into sports at a high level and tried a few things including spending some time in the velodrome trying cycling again,’ he said.
Saya and Kai, pictured as teenagers, have always been close and share a common love of BMX
Rowing has been a key part of Kai’s rehab and he wants to represent Australia at the Paralympics in his new chosen sport
‘Cycling turned out to be scary. I started looking for something else and went to a Paralympic sports come-and-try-day,’ Kai continued.
‘It was here that I found rowing and as soon as I got on the rowing machine, I knew this was the next sports for me.
‘I’m now rowing five days a week and have made good progress. It’s challenging rowing with other people because we all have to row together in sync.
‘The long-term goal is the Paralympics, I’m getting there but it is going to take some time. Regardless I use the same approach I used in my rehabilitation; one step at a time.’
In the meantime, Saya’s gold medal will be treasured and owned by everyone in the Sakakibara family.
‘We’ve gone through so much. And it’s super special he was here and also my parents as well,’ Saya said.
‘BMX means a lot, and it means a lot to both Kai and I. I still get to wear his number, 77, every time I race so I know that he’s with me every time and I represent him every time I go out onto the track.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk