BACOLOD City – A Grade 4 legless boy from Barangay Zone 4, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental won three gold medals in swimming during the Palarong Pambansa-Para Games 2023 in Marikina City.
Zach Lucas Obsiama, a pupil at Special Education (SPED) Center-Cadiz, prevailed in three events: 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter breaststroke and 50-meter freestyle.
The nine-year-old has phocomelia syndrome, a rare birth defect characterized, in most instances, by severe malformations of the extremities.
Infants born with this condition will have arms and/or legs that are severely shortened or sometimes completely absent.
Obsiama only took an interest in swimming sometime in March this year, before the provincial meet. He practiced at the pool of a resort in Cadiz for free almost daily.
His swimming coach, Cherill Ducay, passed away two weeks before the national games.
Cadiz City’s Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. thanked SPED Center-Cadiz for honing Obsiama’s skill in swimming.
“Zach is an extraordinary kid. Cadiznons are so proud of him,” Escalante said./PN
