Blaise chronicles his journey from growing up in Zimbabwe, moving to Toronto, his injury and finding wheelchair basketball in this month’s Athlete Spotlight presented by Toyota.

I was born in Rwanda, but my family migrated to Zimbabwe when I was a baby, and that’s where I grew up. I had a normal childhood; I played sports, including soccer growing up—made friends like everybody else.

I have two younger sisters. As the older brother, a lot of responsibility was put on me, even as a child, so I had to mature at a pretty young age. I wasn’t too overprotective, they have each other for the most part, and they can hold their own as well, but if ever it was needed, I could be that big brother.

The Move

We moved to Toronto when I was 13. I remember it being hotter than I expected. I thought Canada would be full of snow and igloos—all the stereotypical stuff, but I came in the summer, and it was really hot. It wasn’t what I expected, but I love the city.

Adjusting to Toronto was tough for the first little bit, being the new kid on the block in class at school, and the neighborhood, but I always had good social skills because we moved around in Africa, so I was always used to making new friends. I was able to make new friends in Toronto, friends that I still actually have to this day.

When it came to sports, I played everything and anything that I could try out for and afford. I played soccer, ran track, played volleyball—I did everything. I played basketball as well.

I became a fan of the Raptors soon after moving; I had to. The first time I watched the NBA was in 2008 when Boston won the championship. I was watching the finals between the Celtics and Lakers and gravitated towards basketball.

The Raptors were amazing with Chris Bosh. I was still learning the game’s history, so I didn’t really have a favourite player for a while, but it ended up being Lebron James.

Culinary expertise

Growing up, I mainly lived with my dad. My mom moved to Canada before we did, so a lot of time, while my dad was working, I had to make food for myself. That’s where the cooking experience came in. My dad taught me how to make a few meals, and I was able to make them.

Then when it came to college, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life, and I thought it would be easier to go the culinary path. So I went to George Brown College, completed two years, and found a job placement.

The culinary field and cooking was a passion of mine for a while, but when the pandemic hit, the industry changed, and it didn’t seem as enjoyable for me as I thought it would be.

The Injury and Finding Wheelchair Basketball

I was robbed at gunpoint by these two kids. It was just kind of a wrong place, wrong time. I was also not in the right place in my life at the time—I was hanging out with the wrong crowd.

I got shot five times, and two of the bullets hit my spine. The doctors told me that I was an incomplete paraplegic from the L1 vertebrae and that my chances of walking were very slim.

When I first got that diagnosis, for me growing up being super active and always running around; I was running everywhere and always active. So I think that initial diagnosis did not really hit home. It was kind of a little bit hard to believe or hard to grasp as a concept. I just wanted to keep putting in work. I worked really hard on my recovery, and I really wanted to get back on my feet.

During my recovery and rehab at Lyndhurst, my therapist introduced me to wheelchair basketball. She knew I had a passion for basketball before my injury and told me about wheelchair basketball, which I had never heard of before.

She gave me a chair to try it out and go to the back of the rehab facility—I had fun with it. She then introduced me to the coach of Variety Village at the time, and I was able to play and grew a passion for the game from then on.

The University of Arizona

I was at a tournament with the Toronto Rolling Raptors. I believe we were in Louisville, Kentucky, and the University of Arizona coach at the time saw me. We had a game against each other, and he approached me after the game and asked me if I was interested in the college route.

I had a few teammates that were going to the States for school. My initial thought was that I wanted to be able to play professionally overseas, but I wanted to experience the college game a little bit before I made that move, so I thought Arizona was a perfect opportunity.

Arizona is hot, it’s very hot all year round, so it’s amazing. There’s no bad weather. It’s a little bit quieter than Toronto, but it’s a good change. I’m in pre-business, so I’m an undergraduate looking to get into finance or management. I did my first year online, finished my second year back in the spring, and am currently in my third year.

First Paralympic Experience

I thought that was surreal. Growing up, I never thought I’d go to the Paralympics, but it was a surreal experience. The games were intense. Even without the crowd, you still felt the intensity. It just made me a little more excited for the next one because, hopefully, there’ll be fans in attendance, and the feeling would be much better.

Advice for new athletes

Just go out and try it. Give it a shot. Even if you’re not good at it, the game is fun by itself. I was not good at the sport for the longest time, and I had the most fun with it. I made some new friends and had a lot of opportunities come up. So I think it’s definitely something worth a shot.