Wheelchair basketball's Anthony Demesa continues to reach for the stars

MANILA, Philippines -- Anthony Demesa is not letting his wheelchair limit his dreams.

Demesa, a wheelchair basketball player representing the Philippines, has been making waves internationally.

The cager has competed in four international competitions thus far, and this year, he was named as a part of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation U23 Asia Oceania Championships All-Star team. In the competition, the Philippines settled for fourth place after losing to Iran in the bronze medal match.

He was also named as the Para Youth Star in the Siklab Youth Sports Awards earlier this month.

At the sidelines of the awards, Demesa told Philstar.com that he did not think that he would get recognized for the sport, especially with how he got to this point.

Back in October 2016, Demesa’s life changed after figuring in a train accident that took away his ability to walk.

Fast forward to five years later, on the day of his checkup, he was approached by a number of people, who happened to be looking for players who will compete in the Under 21 competition in Bahrain.

At first, he did not believe that there is such a thing as wheelchair basketball.

But Coach Vernon Perea of the Philippine wheelchair basketball team continued talking to him and sent him videos.

“Hindi pa ako naniniwala na ganun, may ganito pala na wheelchair basketball. Una hindi ako naniwala. Hanggang sa sinendan ako ng videos sa messenger, then, yun, pinanood ko yung video,” he told Philstar.com.

“Akala ko ako lang yung ganito, meron pa palang nakakapaglaro na ganito na wheelchair basketball. Hanggang sa pinasok ako sa isang lugar na training daw ako face to face. Hanggang doon ako nagsimulang mag-training,” he added.

The baller, who idolizes Justin Brownlee, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, bared that it took him some time to get used to, as he was not really playing competitive basketball even when he was younger.

“Shooting shooting lang po. Di ako naglalaro sa abled. Natuto lang ako nung ganito na ako.”

And, the rest, as they say, is history.

This time around, he is savoring the opportunity to fly the Philippines’ colors on the international stage.

“Sarap po sa feeling na ganito, hindi ko akalain na magkaka-award ako dito e. Ano lang po, sobrang sarap sa feeling na nakakatulong ka sa bansa mo, maipagmamalaki ka sa pamilya mo,” he said.

“Hindi po. Hindi ko akalain na aabot ako dito. Naimbitahan lang ako e,” he added.

And now, Demesa is setting his sights on possibly competing in the Grandest Stage of them all.

“Ang nakikita ko rito, makaano lang, makasampa lang kami ng Olympics, masaya na ako noon. Iyon ang pinakapangarap ko.”