Wrestling with destiny

Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn
Published March 6, 2004


When Daniel Igali kissed the Maple Leaf flag after winning the gold medal in wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia, his act of pride sent a tingle up the spine of every patriotic Canadian.

It was a moment that will be forever ingrained in the minds of sports fans, who saw this native of Nigeria express a greater appreciation and love for Canada than many people who are actually born in this country.

And now, Igali's inspiring story of coming to Canada and achieving his lifelong dream has been turned into an hour-long documentary, produced by another transplanted Canadian who now calls Burnaby her home.

"Danny has done a lot for our culture and that's a story that needs to be told," says Gabriela Schonbach, producer of Wrestling With Destiny: The Life and Times of Daniel Igali, which is running Tuesday night on CBC television.

The documentary charts Igali's journey to the pinnacle of wrestling and his current dream of building a new school for the young people of Eniwari, the small Nigerian village where he grew up.

"Daniel Igali is a great guy, who is very passionate and committed to excellence in everything he does," Schonbach says. "Spend any time with him at all, and you just want to help make happen whatever he is doing.

"I remember meeting Danny up at SFU to go over details of the film, and I had my 12-year-old daughter with me," Schonbach says. "She was eating a bag of chips and Danny knew she played tennis so he asked her: 'What are you doing eating those? Those aren't good for you.'

"That's the kind of person he is. He gets right in there. He loves kids so much he notices those kinds of things."

Igali clearly has the ability to inspire those around him. For instance, during the filming of a scene where Igali moved out of a small one-bedroom basement suite, Schonbach fails to record the fact that she actually stopped filming to help him with the move.

"He had never moved before and he was overwhelmed by all the things that needed to be done," Schonbach said. "So we brought over boxes and tape and other stuff to help him out.

"That's the kind of things that Danny is so good at. People really want to help him out because he's a really inspiring guy. He's a leader and he's charismatic."

That charisma shines through in two extraordinary moments in the documentary - one which is inspiring and the other which is emotional.

The most inspiring comes out the footage shot in Africa by Burnaby filmmaker Chris Aikenhead, who travelled to the village of Eniwari with Igali to revisit his home and talk to his family and neighbours.

During those scenes, Igali's father describes his incredible pride in having one of his 21 children escape the disease and poverty of Africa to achieve the highest honour in the world of sports.

But the most emotional scene comes when Igali describes his dream of building a $300,000 brick-and-mortar school in his former hometown, and then naming the school after one of the people who gave him the greatest inspiration - Maureen Maheny, the Richmond school teacher who took Igali under her wing for two years, but succumbed to cancer before he achieved his lifelong goal.

Wrestling with Destiny, The Life and Times of Daniel Igali will run on CBC television at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 9.

SCHOOL FUNDRAISER FOR PROJECT

A fundraising dinner and cultural event in support of the Daniel Igali school project is planned for Wednesday, March 17 at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

While about $175,000 has been raised for the project so far, another $125,000 is needed to complete the structure.

This fundraising dinner will feature authentic African entertainment, including drumming and dancing, and tickets are $125 per person. For more information, call 604-291-5301 or send an e- mail to hedgelow@sfu.ca.