Who Is Brenda Anellia Larry

If you've never seen Brenda Anellia Larry before, you can be forgiven if you thought that she was just another schoolgirl. After all, like any other schoolgirl, she loves cooking, playing with her friends, and helping her mum out with chores.

But the difference that sets Brenda apart from every other child is that she does all of this without arms as she was born without them. Though Brenda never saw this as a disability, but instead a challenge.

She goes through daily life by using her feet in replacement of her hands, and so far, she's showing everyone that there is no reason to worry about her. For example, her teacher says that she has one of the best handwriting in school, even though she writes using her feet.

During the visit from Datuk Maimunah Suhaibul, the Sabah Education Department director earlier this year, she was astounded to find out that Brenda was not only able to write and even draw, she was also the brightest student in the school. In classes, Brenda uses six chairs to sit on, which enables her to use her feet to do her school work, and she's utterly unapologetic about it.

“The seat is comfortable and spacious, but it is boring as my friends are far from me. My friends are nice to me. That is why going to school is fun,” Brenda said, but she admitted that some of the boys used to mock her when she was in Primary One. 

Brenda, is also blessed with good friends like Ersie Martin and Tian Ming Lee who have been helping her to the toilet, wear her tailor-made shoes, as well as buy her food from the canteen.

She said sometimes she feels guilty to trouble her friends, especially to assist her in the toilet. “I do apologise to them, but they say helping me is what friends should do. I hope we will be in the same secondary school as both of them have been nice to me.”

Although Brenda did not manage to achieve her target in the recent UPSR, she still held a contagious optimism about the future. And for now, she has fully shifted her focus on her big thing in life; swimming.

Brenda's mother, Maria Lucas said that her youngest daughter is now training to prepare for the 2020 Paralympic games.

She also added that Brenda has always loved the water, but only started taking swimming lessons at a sports complex in Likas last year. She said that Brenda was inspired to take up swimming after they met a disabled athlete while shopping for her tailor-made shoes.

“The person, who is an amputee swimmer, had a chat with Brenda and encouraged her to take up the sport,” said Maria.

Brenda then started getting serious about being a Paralympic athlete, to the point where she is training four times a week.

"It has gotten to the point where her coach is praising her on a regular basis," said Maria.

Maria has attributed Brenda's success to her daughter’s own initiative and willingness to try everything.

“I never had to teach her anything. She started using her feet when she was about 2 years old — that was when I noticed her picking up a biscuit with her foot.

“From there on, she observed what her brothers were doing and would want to do them as well. There are some things that I had to teach her though, like cooking. As a parent, I have my own concerns about her safety, so I sometimes hesitate. But she will often rebuke me by saying: ‘If you don’t teach me how to cook now, how can I do it in the future?’,” said Maria.

Brenda's optimism and perseverance is clearly an eye-opener for us, so let's take Brenda's life story as an inspiration for us to not easily give up in the face of everything, and persevere.

Because with hard work, success is that much closer.