2 weeks Ago By Tom Decent
Paris: Australian table tennis player Jessy Chen holds no animosity towards the man who almost murdered him with a machete in a racially motivated attack that put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. “I couldn’t see anyone,” says Chen of the incident 18 years ago in the Solomon Islands. Jessy Chen competes in the mixed doubles at the Paris Paralympics.
Credit: Getty Images for IPC “You can’t do something now. It’s many years already, so for me, it’s all right.” Everyone at the Paralympics has a story to tell, but Chen’s recovery from a brutal injury that saw him spend a year in hospital is particularly remarkable.
Born in China, Chen’s family moved to the Solomons Islands in 2006 when he was a teenager because of his father’s work. It was not an easy transition as racial tensions escalated, with many Chinese-owned businesses attacked. A burglary in the middle of the night at the family home almost ended in disaster as Chen was bludgeoned with a machete in the neck in a targeted attack from behind.
Chen suffered a heart attack from the incident and didn’t regain consciousness until he woke up in hospital three days later. He also lost a significant amount of blood. “That night I still remember when I [was] sending my friend out of the gate [in] the night,” Chen said.
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