Oscar Pistorius was made and unmade in his childhood. In a race the 12 year old Oscar was carried like a relay baton by his friends along the course. One carrying him and another carrying his prosthetic legs. A charismatic boy Oscar was often the centre of attention.

From a young age he was addicted to speed: going fast that is. A risk taker – nothing would deter him from going fast either on land or water. He was encouraged by his family to take no notice of his disability. No-one in his family was allowed to say “I can’t”.

His mother was a big influence and an inspiration. “He was different but equal”.
Three events then shaped the Pistorius boy’s development: his parent’s divorce, his mother’s death, and a knee injury. He has a tattoo of the dates of his mother’s birth and death on the inside of his right arm.

Death of a parent at any age can be traumatic. But for a 16 year old boy who has been inspired in adversity by a woman so influential in his life must have been something indescribable here. A human parental force that pushes pistorius boy along and becomes a part of him. The pushing energy is normal for him, and internalised.

So when the source is lost: it must be like a train keeping its speed and momentum but losing its tracks. But the tracks have to be found or some direction gained to avert a train heading for a train wreck. The wealthy background of pistorius boy’s life was a constant: there seems to be a wildness and brutality to his environment which remained & became normalised, unchecked.

Is this what happened? Who knows? To understand a life is to only understand a part of it:
and then much remains hidden.

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2015
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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique