South Africa Woman cricketer Tazmin Brits was a Javelin thrower but an accident changed everything

Tazmin Brits, South Africa Woman cricketer, was a Javelin thrower and would’ve have won a medal by now for her country in the Olympics. She had won the Bronze medal at the World Junior Championship in Canada in 2010 and a year later had qualified for the London Olympics. She stepped out to celebrate the good news with her friend and soon everything changed.

Brits was driving the car and for a split second, she opted to check her phone out only to lose control of the steering wheel. She met with a deadly accident in which she sustained multiple fractures in her pelvis and a burst bladder along with internal bleeding. Brits claims she shouldn’t have been alive after the unfortunate accident but her sheer will power and parental support helped her not only to recover but return to sports.

“I was in ICU for two weeks, hospitalised for two months and it took me almost a year to start walking properly and stop being on a wheelchair… Honestly speaking, I shouldn’t have been alive,” she said while speaking to Sportstar.

Why did she opt for cricket?

But after recovering from the accident, why did Tazmin Brits turned to cricket and not Javelin in which she was brilliant. At first, the reason she took up Javelin was it was an individual sport. But having played other sports as well, Brits, during her second stint in life, opted for cricket as it was a team game.

“I had played hockey, tennis, cricket before focusing on javelin early on since I thought in an individual sport, your fate lies in your hand. But during my second stint, I thought having recovered from the accident, it was better to be in a team environment so I started playing cricket,” the 28-year-old added.

Tazmin Brits is currently on India tour where South Africa is scheduled to play five T20Is and three One-Day Internationals. She admits that life is more relaxed for her now and she enjoys playing the sport and is keen on doing well for South Africa.

“With the high standards I had set for myself in javelin, I want to now do well for South Africa in the next year’s World Twenty20 and also make a transition into a formidable ODI cricketer,” Brits further said.

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