Six years ago Yushae Simmons’s world was turned upside down after the para-athlete was told she had scoliosis which would prevent her from competing in wheelchair races.

Not only did being forced to abandon one of her greatest passions take an emotional toll on the 20-year-old Sandys resident, it also left a huge void to fill.

“When I was 14 years old I got scoliosis, which is an abnormal curvature of the spine, and when I got back to Bermuda after being away for a month I was told I could no longer do wheelchair races, throwing and things like that,” Simmons said. “It was very frustrating because I could no longer do those things.”

Acting upon the advice of a friend, Simmons tried her luck at playing boccia which is a precision ball game, related to bowls, played by athletes who require a wheelchair because of their disability.

At first she found the sport unappealing but eventually grew to love it.

“I really thought it was dopey at the time,” Simmons said.

“But then I started playing and began to like it and have been playing ever since.

“It just became fun and I really liked it. Playing boccia is a new way for me to get my frustration out. It has made me better because I am not angry at the things I cannot do. It is very therapeutic.”

The Windreach Adaptive Sports participant continued to hone her skills and eventually the opportunity to compete overseas landed on her doorstep.

She has competed in Montreal on several occasions and more recently reached the quarter-finals of the Americas Cup in Kansas knocking off the 25th ranked player in the world along the way.

“He would not look at me after the game,” Simmons recalled. “He was just so surprised I beat him.”

Competing internationally has broadened Simmons’s horizons and given her a new lease on life and sense of purpose.

“Even if I don’t win anything competing in all these competitions is basically showing me that it’s more to me and there’s more I can do besides being in this wheelchair,” she explained.

“Most times people see me all they see is the wheelchair. They don’t see the person in the chair, so I think this will help get out there that there is more to people than that.

“There’s more than people can see besides the wheelchair and I want people to see that there is more to wheelchair people.

“There is more than our disabilities and I think by me going in tournaments and doing the best I can shows people that.”

Simmons, who is ranked among the top 60 boccia players in the world, narrowly missed out on qualifying for this month’s Boccia World Championships in Beijing.

But despair turned to joy when she was extended an invitation to compete as Bermuda’s top-ranked player after another competitor withdrew.

“It was like, ‘hey, do you want to go to China’ and I was like, ‘yeah’,” she recalled.

Along with mother Ashanti Andrade and coach Troy Farnsworth, Simmons departs for China tomorrow, where she has set herself a goal to strive for competing among 48 competitors in the BC2 category.

“My goals for this tournament is to hopefully finish in the top ten,” she said.

“That’s what my aim is and with all the training that I have been doing I think I can get there.”

Simmons has left no stone unturned in her preparations for the upcoming championships, according to coach Farnsworth.

“To Yushae’s credit she has put in the hard yards in the last three weeks and done more training than she ever has,” he said. “We have been doing a lot of drills and focusing a lot on the more technical side of the game.

“A lot of the athletes will be ramping up their training so if you do not do as much training as them then you are going to be at a disadvantage.”

Simmons added: “All the other athletes had time to build up to this while I literally had three weeks. My life changed in three weeks, this was never a plan for me.”

Boccia was originally played by athletes with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other disabilities which affect motor skills.

“Boccia is a lot harder than it looks,” said Farnsworth, who has urged the public to donate to the Bermuda Paralympic Association to enable other local para-athletes pursue their athletic ambitions.

“It’s all about blocking your opponent and when you are blocked you have to learn how to move balls out of the way to then get your ball in the right position.”

n Updates of Simmons’s progress in Beijing can be found on her Facebook page, Yushae Asha Simmons.