There are a million reasons 12-year-old Ali Turganbekov is right to label himself as a “unique optimist”. The boy from Nur Sultan – the capital of Kazakhstan – was born without legs in a country that frowned upon such impediments. And that is putting it lightly.
Turganbekov, who works every day to fulfil his goal of becoming a Paralympics gold medallist in swimming, has become somewhat of an inspiration for elite athletes around the world.
He has met and performed keepy-uppies with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Andriy Shevchenko and the legendary Diego Maradona, to name a few.
“I started playing football at the age of eight. I practise heading the ball a lot. In the future, I want to become a freestyle footballer and an Olympic swimming champion,” Turganbekov said, fresh from meeting 2018 World Cup MVP and Balon d’Or winner Luka Modric at Real Madrid’s training ground.
Often called the “Kazakh Vujicic” by local media – a comparison with Australian motivational speaker Nick Vujicic who was born without arms and legs – Turganbekov's highlight so far was presenting the Uefa Super Cup to Liverpool on live television last August. Captain Jordan Henderson even made sure he had a chance to lift the trophy himself.
“It is hard to put into words – I was very nervous,” he said. “It was probably the moment I will remember the most in my whole life. I knew that football fans all over the world would be able to see me.”
Turganbekov would become the talk of the town thereafter, with Russian mixed-martial arts star Khabib Nurmagomedov getting in touch to help realise a lifelong dream of meeting one of the greatest footballers to grace the game.
“It was Khabib who organised the meeting with Ronaldo. I am so very grateful to him for that. By the way, it was Khabib himself who suggested I meet Ronaldo,” said an excited Turganbekov, whose heartwarming Instagram video meeting the Portuguese star in Dubai inevitably went viral.
“Ronaldo said that I was doing a great job and that I should never give up. I get very emotional when I meet those players. I want to be as great a champion as they are, but in swimming.”
While he has earned the praise of the international football community, Turganbekov's strongest support comes from back home. His father Azamat, mother Akmaral, and younger brother Amir have been there since the start.
“I have a very positive outlook on life. I may have no legs, but I have a great family. My mum, dad, brothers and sisters, I am very grateful to them,” he said. “I would like to say thank you to my brother and my parents for their constant love, care and support.”
Father Turganbekov described the societal difficulties of raising their eldest son in native Nur Sultan, although he does not dwell on it too much.
Local media reported in the past that Turganbekov's expecting parents were pressured by doctors and imams (Islamic leaders) to abort the fetus. The family remained vigilant, however, and now witness their son exceeding all expectations.
“Unfortunately, in the former USSR there is no environment where Ali could move freely in a wheelchair. That is the main difficulty,” he said.
“Of course, I am so proud of my son. But the most important thing for us is that Ali is a happy boy, and that he becomes an Olympic champion.”
Aside from his water-based mission, Turganbekov also wants to use his more than 200,000 social media followers to inspire other youngsters going through similarly tough times; to show that they must be consistently encouraged to embrace their uniqueness in an optimistic way.
“I want to motivate other children with physical disabilities to do sports and to achieve their goals. Why? I know that there are a lot of people in the world like me. Many are stuck at home, ashamed of being different, especially in countries formerly of the USSR,” he said, adding that he would like to try his juggling skills with Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic this year.
Additional reporting by Alena Hoffmann and Pavel Toropov
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