Paul Gauthier failed to defend his boccia title at the ongoing Paralympics, but he got another reward - the love from his family that has made him one of the happiest competitors at the Beijing Paralympics.

Paul Gauthier (from left), Sarah Douglas and her mother Evelyn Douglas, along with the couple's foster son Derek and an old family friend, Joseph Theriault, visit the Fencing Hall at the Olympic Green yesterday. [Li Xiaokun/China Daily]

"It's great that I have such a wonderful family that has been supporting me all the time," Gauthier, 37, said on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, an important traditional Chinese holiday.

The Athens Paralympics boccia gold medalist finished sixth individually and eighth in pairs in Beijing.

Gauthier, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is married and has a 15-year-old foster son. He met his wife, Sarah Douglas, when he was looking for a new boccia assistant.

"We got to know each other more and fell in love," Gauthier said. They've been together for three years and got married in July.

For Douglas, 26, the transformation from friendship into love with Gauthier was not a surprise, as she has been involved with people with disabilities for a long time.

"I see them as the people they are. I completely see the person first and the disability as a part of life. I've never seen it as something bigger than that," she said.

"It has been a great relationship. I'm very happy to be in Beijing and to get this experience together," Douglas said.

The couple also brought their foster son Derek to Beijing. Suffering from a social anxiety disorder, the boy looks quite shy and types what he wants to say into an electronic voice simulator.

"Happy," Derek answered through the device when asked about his feelings when watching his foster father competing.

Gauthier smiled when hearing that.

"Derek himself has done a lot of research about the Paralympics. You could ask him when it began and where the first host country was. He will be able to tell you all the different facts about the Paralympics," he said proudly.

Gauthier himself was raised in a foster home. Being able to develop in what he calls a "nurturing system" was one of the reasons he decided to become a foster parent.

When Derek first moved in four years ago, he was unable to communicate with the others at all.

But now he can talk with his foster parents at home.

"The disorder is something that Derek is working on very hard.

He has made lots of progress through these years," Gauthier said.

The Vancouver resident is not only helping his son but also works with a local Paralympic Association to help disabled people with issues such as housing, home support and equipment.

"We're so proud of him for his achievements in sports and his assistance to others," Sarah's mother Evelyn Douglas said.

(China Daily September 15, 2008)