He lost his leg and that made him a fitness freak

Tareq Al Saqqa uses three types of prosthetic legs for different activities.

Palestinian national and Abu Dhabi resident Tareq Al Saqqa, 33, is a biomedical engineer who had a life-changing accident at work in 2012 when a 1,300kg machine fell on his leg, which then had to be amputated.
Tareq describes the fateful day - August 7, 2012 - as his new birthday as it completely changed his take on life. "I feel God has chosen to show me things differently and I just need to be patient. I think I am lucky as this accident came like a life-giving shock. It made me realise how precious our life is and to live it to the fullest," he said.
Tareq, who got into fitness after the ghastly accident, said he accepted the 30-day Dubai Fitness Challenge because it was an opportunity to organise and discipline his fitness regime further. "Such initiatives are a reminder for all of us to not to take our body for granted," he said.
"The challenge has given me a responsibility of taking care of my body regularly. Firstly, it helped me make a fitness schedule, where I have divided the week in a way that I go swimming for two days, cycling for two days, one day at the gym, and one day running. It has also helped me include some brisk walk on my Fridays as well," he added.
"Taking up the challenge helped me manage my eating habits. It is due to the challenge that my meal timings have also improved because I know that I have to start my fitness regime at 5pm and therefore I should eat by 2pm and not delay my lunch further. I would have erratic eating timings otherwise but the challenge has fixed that part as well."
Tareq, who makes it a point to spend about an hour everyday on exercising, said thanks to the challenge that it "checks, tests and motivates us to be regular". Tareq uses three types of prosthetic legs for different activities in his life - one for running, one for daily walking and activities, and another waterproof leg for swimming.
How life changed
"Maybe, people do not like talking about disability but I have only one thing to say that it has opened my eyes to my true ability. I learnt how to swim and dive after my accident. So I am glad that God has gifted me with this opportunity to realise the value of his blessings and explore my strengths in different ways."
Tareq now inspires people and gives them hope through his social media profile where he posts pictures doing all activities normally, for example, running, driving, shopping, swimming. "I want to tell all, especially people of determination that it is ok if you have some disability, you can overcome it through your optimism, positivity and can do attitude."
saman@khaleejtimes.com