No Triumph, No Tragedy - 20/08/2009

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields. Peter interviews the blind Zimbabwean cricket commentator Dean du Plessis about his eventful journey from creating make-believe matches to commentating on real ones. Dean uses his intimate knowledge of the foibles of the players and the sound effects of well-placed microphones around the grounds to inform and captivate radio and television audiences. But his broadcasts have also got him into trouble, and as one of the dwindling number of white people still in Zimbabwe, he has been and intimidated by Mugabe supporters for his outspoken comments. Dean's career is not what those teaching him at South Africa's world-famous Worcester School for the Blind would have imagined. He admits he was an umpromising student, but he has relentlessly pursued what really interested him and is still building a career as a cricket pundit. He now has to make a decision about whether he can carry on living in Zimbabwe or whether he might have to leave the country of his birth in order to continue pursuing his dream.