JOHOR BARU: “All I wanted was for my son who was born with a hearing disability to learn some martial arts to defend himself from being bullied,” said R. Shanti.

       But what this mother never expected was to see V. Yilamaran, 22, eventually grow up to become a national karate exponent, winning medals internationally including bagging a silver medal at the 24th Deaflympic Games in Caxias do Sul in Brazil on Tuesday.

       The latest edition of the event, organised by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, is on from May 1 to 15. It features 20 sports participated by 6,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes from some 100 countries.

       Shanti, 51, said while she is very proud of her son’s achievements, she is equally worried for him each time he goes into the ring.

       “My son usually sends me pictures and videos of all his matches and tournaments, whether they are in Malaysia or overseas,” the single mother who raised three children said in an interview.

       Her other two children are twin daughters aged 30.

       Shanti, who works as a cleaner in Singapore, said despite her son’s assurance that he was fine and unhurt during the recent match in Brazil, she was still worried and teary-eyed seeing him in pain during the tournaments.

       She added that being active in karate has taken Yilamaran to many countries, including India and Iran.

       At the latest Deaflympics, Yilamaran lost to eventual champion Makhno Oleksanr of Ukraine in the final of the men’s kumite below 84kg category.

       Last November, Yilamaran made history when he captured Malaysia’s first medal – a bronze – at the inaugural World Deaf Karate Championships in Teheran, Iran.

       Shanti said she only found out about her son’s hearing disability when he was two years old.

       “He completely can’t hear on one side while he has partial hearing on the other.

       “One day when he was five, I found him crying in the corner after being hit by some relatives’ kids.

       “That broke my heart and I was worried about him being bullied as he grew.

       “It was then that I decided to seek out a trainer to coach my son in self-defence,” she added.

       She found him in V. Vicnesvaran, who has been coaching her son since he was six.

       Shanthi thanked the Malaysian Deaf Sports Association (MSDeaf) and Vicnesvaran for helping her son realise his potential in karate.

       Vicnesvaran is also the president of the Persatuan Karate-Do Daerah Kulai Jaya.

       Asked whether she would encourage her son to continue in the sport, Shanti said she is still worried about him but hopes that he will complete his studies and be a coach to support himself.

       Yilamaran’s feat did not escape the attention of Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who announced that the state government would reward him with RM8,000 for his silver medal win.

       The Johor Mentri Besar congratulated Yilamaran and said the gift was an appreciation of the Johorean’s contribution.

       “The Johor-born athlete created personal history as this is the first time the country has participated in this event on the world level and has won a medal for Malaysia,” he said on his Facebook page.

       For now, Shanti is looking forward to meeting up with her son on Saturday and cooking his favourite chicken sambal or chicken curry.