South African double amputee track athlete Oscar Pistorius, while falling short of his recent attempt to best able-bodied world class 400m sprinters in the 2012 London Olympic Games, finally achieved his goals and overcame his disability to violently kill his girlfriend in a hail of gunfire. It was a shrewd move for Pistorius, known for thinking on his feet, to use a firearm. Using a sharp instrument would have possibly been too obvious and easily attracted blame to the “Blade Runner”.
Family friends and fans say that they “knew he could do anything just as well as any other guy who has legs” and while it is terribly tragic that girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is dead, “we can’t help but be proud that his disabilities did not hold him back,” and that he has shown the world that those who have lost their limbs can still achieve their dreams.
Aspiring young sprinter and also amputee Gordon Winstead has followed Pistorius’s career for years. “It’s amazing what he’s done. It just makes me want to work harder. Of course, I mean at the track. I’m not going to kill anyone. But still, it shows ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’,” said Winstead.
Another court appearance should be scheduled for next week, but lawyers for Pistorius dispute the charges and say that the prosecution’s case just doesn’t have legs.