As a judo teacher for people with Special Needs one meets the strangest kinds of syn-dromes. Have you ever heard of the van Apert syndrome? I never had, until I met Sussanna Makkinje. That was before the internet, so I could not just turn to Google for help.
Suasanna Makkinje
The van Apert syndrome:
Is a hereditary innate disorder of the skull, the face, hand and feet. In case of the van Ap-ert syndrome there is an alteration in the hereditary material. When a baby is born the parts of the skull are not yet grown together completely, the openings are called the fontanelles.In case of the van Apert syndrome the bones in the skull close too quickly. A wide skull and flat forehead are the result. The upper jaw is often under developed. The eyes may be far apart or hypertelorism and the eyelids can hang down.
Fingers and toes may be partly or completely grown together. People with van Apert may be hard of hearing or have a cleft palate.
There is often a retarded mental development.
But every person is unique and has his or her own qualities. Susan eventually gained her first Dan or black belt and with a good exam showed what she achieved in practice.
Her teacher Wil Vreeken taught her the ins and outs of judo. He taught her how to balance when taking hold of an opponent. You will not be surprised that her favourite throw is O-goshi. Then there is no need to take hold of her opponent; she just clamps with her left arm the opponent’s right arm against her body while with her right arm she goes underneath the opponent’s left arm to take hold of the opponent’s waist and turns in. This happens so quickly that many an opponent is on her back before realising what is going on. Moreover Susan has the capability to observe her opponent beforehand and think out a strategy for the match. She is quiet, listens well to her coach and analyses the match afterwards. She may not show us spectacular judo but it is effective, judging by the results.
In short, Susanna is a remarkable young woman who knows what she wants and can put it into words.
She has done this several times on radio and television.
Dutch judoka of the year 2008 (Jan Duynmeier award)
