"After missing out Ironman Goa because of a fistula surgery… After missing out on training multiple times being bedridden… After doctors giving up on me!... After Covid and races being canned!... After crying and trying to kill myself because of debilitating anxiety,” 26-year-old Huafrid Billimoria was able to complete two Ironman challenges in March and April 2022.
His three years of practice bore fruit when he was declared the "Fastest person with dystonia (a condition which causes involuntary muscle contractions and twisting movements) to complete a full Ironman… First Indian with a disability to complete an Ironman… Fastest Indian with a disability to complete an Ironman.” These three recognitions came for Billimoria after he successfully completed the grueling Ironman Dubai 70.3 triathlon organized in March this year and the more rigorous Ironman South Africa the following month. Despite suffering from dystonia, Billimoria managed to complete the 1.9 km swim, 90 km bicycle ride and 21.1 km marathon in Dubai within seven hours, seven minutes, well ahead of the eight-hour time limit, he announced on his Facebook page. He refused to wear a wetsuit because he wanted to do things the hard way!
Above: Huafrid Billimoria conquers disabilities and distances at the Ironman challenge
Representing India in his first international event in Dubai, he acknowledged that he could not have done this without the financial, logistic and moral support of "Powerpeaks, Chaitanya Velhal, Veda Rehabilitation and Wellness Center and Omkar Jokar, my pacer! I could have come first if I didn’t cramp up really bad because of dystonia triggering me” at the 14 km mark, he related.
On April 3, he managed yet another milestone when he completed the Ironman South Africa with a timing of 14:21:45. Due to inclement weather conditions, the 3.8 km swim was cancelled. He ran for 6:23:26 hours to complete the 42.2 km marathon and took 7:51:06 hours to complete the bike ride of 180 km. With the rains causing slippery roads, many competitors around him were crashing and several did not finish the race. He alluded to the other challenges he had to face at the penultimate hour from the visa coming on the day of the flight to almost missing the flight to spending extra money for the same, to his pedal breaking in the last 50 km ride on an old bike, to severe cramps and body shutting down while popping pills to control his dystonia and acidity, to puking, to feeling giddy…
Despite his multiple challenges and disabilities like clinical ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), clinical mental health conditions like general anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), severe learning disabilities from the age of five, Billimoria has presevered relentlessly. An alumnus of St Mary’s School, he graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition (Dadar Catering College), did his Masters in Social Work in disability studies and action from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and double Masters in clinical psychology from the Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Son of Percy Billimoria, credit vice president of DCB Bank, and Rukshana Billimoria who is the principal of the Anjuman-I-Islam’s Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Huafrid told Parsiana when at 16 years, doctors felt he may not be able to walk, "I started doing what I was told I shouldn’t/wouldn’t be able to do.” Currently he is freelancing as a disability and mental health advocate/ public relations and communications professional, setting up facilities for nongovernmental organizations. Huafrid also runs a small self-help group to assist individuals with OCD, trying to get the best overseas practices into India. He wants to use the sports platform "to spread awareness about disability, the lack of empathy and belief in people who want to get ahead but can’t because of all the bias and discrimination.”